Rubian Destiny: Time's Erase
by HikaEmerald
Summary: Sequel to RD. Conflict followed after the sudden disappearance of the job instructors. With the peace on Victoria Island disrupted and previous frienndships gone, what is to be done to resolve the issue? AU Maple, you are warned. Rated T to be safe.
1. Hikari's Decision

Disclaimer: I do not own Maplestory, I only own my OCs.

Chapter 1:Hikari's Decision

* * *

_"The promise that was made is now broken.  
Friends forever, no matter what happens?  
What foolishness is that, yet they are not to blame  
This is all my fault. If only I..."_

The sun had started to set and casted its warm glow over a city of buildings. A lone lady stood on one of the abandoned tower cranes, watching the sunset view with a white jacket hanging loosely on her shoulders. Her brown hair floated gently in the warm evening breeze, with the rays of the sun reflecting off her glasses. Her hands were tucked into her white pants as she stared sadly into the distant sun, with sadness in those emerald eyes of hers.

"Dark Lord Hikari!" called a stern, low voice. Hikari turned around, slipping her arms back into her shirt and wiping her gloved hands on her black shirt.

"What is it Ned?" she said, her voice considerably lower from when she was a teenager. Ned came up dressed in rather formal attire, a black suit to be exact. "How did the meeting go? Did they finally make up?"

Ned shook his head, sighing. "Seriously, why did Master Jin entrust to you the position of Dark Lord again? And besides, "Dark" and "Hikari" do not go together-"

"It's only temporary, Ned, at least until Master Jin returns. Answer my question."

Ned blinked twice, looking at the shorter thief. Her eyes hid silent regret and anger. "Has it really been three years...?" murmured Ned as he pulled out a notepad from an inner pocket. Hikari tapped her feet impatiently as Ned flipped through his notepad furiously, trying to find the correct page.

"Basically... the three of them are _still_ fighting. Neither side wants to give in. I've tried acting as peace maker but I got ignored,_as usual_. Oh and by the way, the Nautilus has docked near Henesys, but Mistress Kyrin has not been informed to join the meeting."

"You didn't provoke them right? We do not need the thieves to be involved in this conflict. The Warriors, Mages and Bowmen are already in it... We cannot afford to join in. Wise choice there, it's best not to involve Mistress Kyrin and the pirates in it either."

"Pardon me for asking Dark Lord Hikari-"

"Forget the formal talk, Ned. There's no need when it's just the both of us. Besides, I prefer your crude way of speaking."

"... Well fine, ya stupid White Thief! But yeah, why are you so insistent that we stay out?" Ned watched as Hikari looked down on the city of Kerning. Hikari gazed at the subtle bustle in the city as many thieves ran here and there. Adventurers roamed free in her city, some acting as merchants while others simply went to help the citizens of Kerning with some errands. It was rather peaceful.

Alas, it is not the same for all the towns in Victoria Island. A year since the previous instructors of Victoria Island had disappeared in the Cursed Sanctuary, the temporary leaders of Perion, Ellinia and Henesys had rather strained relationships with each other. Besides the trade relationships, almost all forms of communications between the three towns were gone. Instead, there was unknown hatred and distrust amidst the temporary leaders. As such, even the Warriors, Magicians and Bowmen have hatred towards each other. There had been several clashes between the three jobs. The thieves have all been ordered by Hikari to not engage into any fighting with the other jobs, and if need be, to escape should they be attacked.

Hikari tore her eyes from the peaceful scene of Kerning City to look at Ned.

"... It is Master Jin's orders. He wrote them in his letter to me. If all the towns are in conflict, Victoria Island will fall easily to outside forces. The peace in Victoria Island must be preserved," Hikari replied as she leapt off the crane, falling gracefully through the air and landing on the ground lightly. Ned followed after her, entering the Thieves' Hideout with her.

"Really, why won't they just stop? As suddenly as the instructors disappeared, this stupid, infernal conflict started too," Hikari mumbled, rubbing her temples lightly. It has been days since she managed to get any decent rest, since she had been trying to stop the towns from arguing with each other. She heaved a huge sigh, sitting down on the chair at the document table which she used to sign documents. Ned patted her lightly on the back, removing her jacket for her.

"Get some rest," said Ned. When he turned to look at Hikari, he saw a rather shocked look on her face. "I'm not showing sympathy for you or anything, I'm only watching out for you 'cause Master Jin said so!" added Ned hastily, a light blush forming on his face. Hikari gave a tired chuckle.

"Ned?"

"What?"

"Thanks a lot. If you weren't here supporting me, I would have probably collapsed or given up long ago," Hikari said, as she closed her room door behind her. Ned stared at the closed door for a moment, before he sat down at the document table that Jin used to sit at before he disappeared, staring at the crystal that sat on the table. The crystal was given to Hikari three years ago after she had returned from the Sleepywood Dungeons with Jin's scarf. From what he heard from Jin, it contained the skills of the thief to properly advance any beginner or thief to the next tier. It was necessary for them to have it, since neither Hikari nor Ned had the knowledge to teach the thieves the skills themselves. Both of them were only up to the third tier of Thievery.

"It's only been three years since the instructors disappeared, and the temporary leaders of the Warriors, Bowmen and Magicians have started fighting over a silly issue. What will happen to Victoria Island?" Ned pondered aloud, holding the clear crystal in his hand as he observed it from every angle possible. Suddenly, a young female thief burst into the hideout, panting and sweating with a red face.

"Woah, chill there, my girl, what's wrong?" Ned said as he got up from the chair and approached the tired thief.

"B-Big n-news! Replex, Weniry and Leo have met at the base of the World Tree! There's a chance they may actually resort to actual, full-out combat!" said the young thief, panicking. Ned let out a loud groan, patting her on the head.

"Good job, thanks for informing me-" Ned was spun around in a circle as a blur of white dashed past him and went up the ladder, out of the hideout at top speed, leaving behind a trail of dust. Ned let out another groan, pulling at his hair slightly. He thought that Hikari had already gone to bed!

"Oh, you stupid Queen!"

* * *

At the base of the World Tree, near the entrance to Sleepywood, three figures stood there glaring at each other in the glare of the setting sun.

"I see you've come, Replex Cosmos," snarled a yellow haired elf, sappphire eyes gleaming with distaste. He wore a white-lined grey shirt with its sleeves reaching to his elbows, and brown pants tucked into brown leather boots. His hair was tied into one small lock of hair, and his arms which were covered with brown leather hunting gloves were crossed in front of his chest. There was a pouch that hung on the leather belt around his waist, and a quiver on his back.

"Can it, Leo Ace," Replex growled at the elf Leo. His long red hair was tied up in a long ponytail, while some fell in front of his face and framed it. Ruby eyes blazed with anger behind his glasses. He wore an orange shirt with long black sleeves, and dark blue jeans. On his back was a sword and shield, though the sword and its sheath were wrapped up in white bandages, as if to conceal its form.

"Why don't both of you just shut up?" asked a magician who wore a green shirt, with a blue long sleeve shirt inside. Her brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her green eyes reflect the fact that she was bored. Yawning, she sat down on the grass in her tight blue jeans, a necklace with a red spherical emblem flashing in the sunlight.

"Snappy aren't we, 'Oracle' Weniry?" commented Leo as he glared at the shorter magician, voice dripping with sarcasm. Weniry gave Leo a nasty look as she glanced over at Replex.

"Who was the one who organized this meeting again?" said Replex, bored as he sat down crossed-legged. Leo grumbled and mumbled something about stupidly dense and forgetful warriors as he sat down. His comment was however, heard by Replex and provoked him, resulting in Replex grabbing the front of Leo's shirt roughly.

"I heard that!" yelled Replex, drawing his fist back. Another hand grabbed his wrist and he turned around to look at the one responsible.

"There's no need to resort to actual violence, Replex," said Hikari coolly, panting slightly after having to run all the way to the World Tree. Replex fell silent for a moment, before releasing Leo and snapping his wrist away from Hikari, mumbling beneath his breath about interfering, which Hikari just ignored.

"Why are you guys still fighting over the issue of who caused the masters to disappear? It's been three years already," asked Hikari, looking at the three.

"Well, because _someone_ is definitely to blame for stupidly lifting the damn seal, thus making the masters having to come in and save our hides," snapped Leo, eyeing Replex. Replex gritted his teeth, cracking his knuckles in an attempt to control his anger.

"Okay, I can understand if there's some friction between Leo and Replex, but what about you Weniry?" Hikari asked, turning to Weniry.

"I'm not going to take their insults about me not knowing the seal lying down, Hikari. Replex thinks it's my fault for not informing him about it," replied Weniry with malice in her voice, something Hikari had never heard before.

"To be fair Weniry, you thought it was Leo's fault for not getting a firmer grip on us!" argued Replex, his volume increasing along with his anger.

"How can it be _my_fault when you guys don't have that own discipline in yourselves! I can't be there to have a grip on you guys each time you're off doing something stupid!" roared Leo, standing up, prompting Replex and Weniry to get up to, and the trio started bickering again. Hikari frowned, charging into the middle and pushing the three away from each other.

"Stop it! Stop arguing!" she yelled, "It's none of our faults, the masters wanted this! They stated it themselves didn't they! They will eventually return. Arguing over it won't hasten the process you know!"

Everyone fell silent and looked away from each other.

"Didn't each of our masters stated that they wanted us to maintain the harmony and peace in Victoria Island? Why are we disobeying their orders?" Hikari continued, calming down as she softened her tone, looking at each person in the eye, a longing plea evident in her eyes. "Please guys, just stop fighting and resolve this."

Leo lifted his head up and spoke first.

"It'll never disappear, Hikari. Until we can somehow settle our differences, this grudge won't disappear. If you excuse me, I have to return to Henesys," Leo said sharply, walking down the grassy path towards Henesys. Weniry got up without another word and went her own way to return to Ellinia.

Hikari turned to Replex, who was entering the World Tree.

"You're taking a rather odd way back, Replex."

"I came via the dungeon path to reach the World Tree, and honestly speaking, I rather not see that damn elf's face or walk through his 'territory'. Excuse me, Hikari," said Replex coldly as he left. Hikari was taken aback at the icy tone Replex held in his voice.

"They've changed... They've all changed... They're no longer the same people I knew three years ago, and it's all..." she muttered as she walked out of Henesys, her shoulders hunched. As she mistakenly walked out of Henesys in the direction of Ellinia instead of Kerning, she felt a hard pat on her back which made her stumble forward.

"Woah!"

"Aye, a young lass like you shouldn't be making such a face like that! It's a waste of youth, dont'cha think? Stand up straight and hold your head up high, lassie!" a bold feminine voice said as an arm was wrapped around Hikari's shoulder. Hikari turned her head back and saw a tall lady with forest green eyes and rather light orange-brown hair, a black pirate hat on her head with a red ribbon tied on the hat. She wore a red top, and a brown belt hung across her blue shorts. Her black knee-high boots rustled the grass around her, with a red and white striped fur coat floating in the breeze behind her.

"Erm... Who are you?" asked Hikari, straightening herself as she regained her balance slowly.

"Sorry lass, I didn't introduce myself. Name's Kyrin, the pirate and captain of the submarine, Nautilus!" Kyrin introduced herself. "What seems to be da matter? You seem pretty down."

"First off, I wanna know what the pirate captain's doing all the way in Henesys," said Hikari as she gently lifted Kyrin's arm off her shoulder.

"C'mon, we'll walk and talk. Well, originally, I felt like visiting an old friend here, only to realize she ain't there... Do ya know what happened to the elf leader, Athena Pierce?"

"Yeah, I do. Well..." Hikari poured out the whole story to Kyrin, about what happened in the Cursed Sanctuary, the Balrog and the seal the instructors had casted. By then they had reached the Nautilus Dock. A large whale-like submarine was docked there, with a skull shape emblem on it. There were mini fragments of land floating about, and with palm and coconut trees growing around.

"I see, so that's what happened on the island. I was wondering why the bowmen seemed so hostile all of a sudden. I understand that the instructors will be returning maybe sometime in the future, but why would you still be upset? Oh by the way, that submarine be my Nautilus! Ain't it a beaut?" Kyrin said, laughing loudly. Hikari winced a bit at Kyrin's loud laugh.

"Yes, it is unique, I must say. As for why I'm upset," Hikari hesitated for a moment. The look on her face suddenly became darker. Noticing this, Kyrin gave a small frown.

"We'll talk in private Hikari, no worries," she said as she led Hikari to the entrance of the Nautilus. It was pretty huge inside, with many pirates running around carrying crates of provisions. Suddenly, a tanned man with a blue bandana and bandages wrapped around his eyes wearing a blue coat and white pants walked up to Kyrin.

"Captain Kyrin we've- It would seem you have brought a guest with you," he said, turning his head in Hikari's direction.

"Yup Muirhat, I have. Tell me what news you have later, right now I'll have a private chat with my guest. Make sure no one listens in okay?" Kyrin said. Muirhat gave a swift nod, following Kyrin up a flight of stairs into the next floor.

"Gosh, how many floors are there in this thing?" asked Hikari, slightly confused.

"Three, the bottom tier's where the energy source of the Nautilus is, the middle tier is where the entrance is, and the top is where all the dorms, the kitchen and the navigation room are," answered Kyrin with a chuckle.

"By the way, that guy... How does he know that I'm here when both his eyes are bandaged up like that?" whispered Hikari uneasily.

"Oh relax, Muirhat won't bite. 'Sides, he has really good senses, so he can tell if there's someone nearby by sound alone," replied Kyrin with a cheerful laugh, reaching a room at the far end of the corridor.

"This here is the Navigation Room. It's also my personal room, mind yer," said Kyrin, snapping her fingers at Muirhat. Muirhat gave a sharp nod, positioning himself outside the door. Hikari followed Kyrin inside and was amazed by the controls that she saw inside. Strangely, there was a very clear view of what was happening outside, as if she was looking through one of the whale's eyes.

"Woah... All of these controls... look complicated," she said. Kyrin chuckled lowly, sitting on a nearby chair and offering Hikari a seat.

"Now then 'Kari, why not tell me why you seem so down?"

"It's a long, long story, Mistress Kyrin."

* * *

Night had fallen, and Ned waited anxiously for Hikari who still had not returned to Kerning City, glancing at his watch every few minutes.

"Hikari, you stupid girl... Where are you...?" he mumbled anxiously as he paced up and down outside the pub.

Suddenly, a cab pulled up right in front of him, and Hikari walked out, paying the fare to the cab driver. She turned around and saw Ned sitting on his rear, in somewhat shock as he watched the cab drove right out of Kerning City.

"What in the name of Minerva was that about?" asked Ned, still a little surprised.

"Oh, you mean the cab? Mistress Kyrin said it wouldn't be safe for me to walk by myself in the dark, so she recommended that I take a cab back to Kerning City," replied Hikari, yawning as she strolled into the Thief's Hideout with Ned following behind her.

"Geesh, you came back so late ya know? I was getting worried!"

"Aww, are you showing concern for me, Ned?"

"S-Shut up!" Ned snapped, as he shoved a plate of food in Hikari's face. Hikari blinked in surprise, before accepting the plate and sitting down to eat. She seemed to be in rather deep thought.

"Yeah yeah, just following Master Jin's orders, am I right?" Hikari said softly, eating the food.

"W-Whatever... What were you talking with Mistress Kyrin about anyway?" asked Ned as he sat beside Hikari.

"... Nothing really important. Ned, can I request a favour from you? It's rather sudden, but I really need you to do this, and I believe only you can do it." Hikari placed her plate down and stared at Ned straight in the eyes, a serious look on her face. Ned gulped a little, not used to seeing Hikari like this, for while Hikari was normally serious, she was never so serious as to look at him in the eye. When she does that, she meant business.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"... I want you to take over the position of Dark Lord."

"... You're kidding me, right?"

* * *

A/N: A rather short intro that links to the rather blunt ending of my previous story. Mmm... It was a bit hard deciding on Kyrin's personality, so I just decided to give it a try. There's a lot of mystery going around Hikari now... Till the next update, stay sharp!


	2. Disappearance and Ereve

Disclaimer: I do not own Maplestory, I only own my OCs.

Chapter 2:Disappearance and Ereve

* * *

Several weeks passed ever since Replex, Leo, Weniry and Hikari had that meeting at the base of the World Tree. Replex sat down in the Warrior's Shrine, his gaze following a young aspiring warrior step up to him.

"So you wish to be a warrior, lad?"

"Yup!" the boy replied. "You know sir, you're awfully young to be a leader of warriors."

Replex gave a soft chuckle. "That's because I'm not the actual leader, Master Dances with Balrog is. However, due to... certain circumstances, he's not here right now, and I am the temporary leader of Perion. Hold out your hand," explained Replex, placing a brown crystal into the boy's open palm. A bright light shone from the brown crystal as little streams of white energy entered him.

"You're given the blessing of a warrior, whose main attribute is strength. Keep on training, and maybe I'll see you again!" Replex grinned cheerfully, watching the newly promoted warrior run out of the shrine. His smile disappeared as soon as it came, sighing as he tossed the crystal up and down in his hand.

"It's tiring, faking a smile like this," he mumbled. "Why am I fighting again? But... it's not completely my fault that the masters disappeared, why does Leo insist that? That fat jerk!" Replex cursed, clenching his fist and punching the air. He stared at his wrapped-up sword which rested on the stone chair.

"Ru... Ever since your soul merged with mine, I haven't seen you... However, your power flows through me, but are you truly gone? I've lost Master Dances, I have no idea where Karamel is. On top of that, I just can't settle the fight and come to a resolution with Leo or Weniry, and Hikari has been avoiding me..." Replex leaned forward, resting his head in his hands, his fingers running through his hair.

"Karamel... This isn't the future I sought for... Can this really be my destiny? To make enemies out of friends and to fight continuously? Can I not find peace in this road?" he grumbled, leaning back onto the chair and tilting his head up to stare at the light of the two torches that stood beside the chair.

Replex bolted up straight again when he heard the groans of the shrine's stone door and hurried footsteps. He immediately bolted out of his chair when he saw two warriors drag in a seriously injured warrior, quickly examining his wounds.

"What the hell happened here!" he demanded, turning to the two warriors.

"W-We got ambushed on our way back to Perion, sir! By magicians and bowmen!" squeaked the two warriors, cowering from Replex's sudden rage. Replex breathed deeply to calm himself, before grabbing his sword and shield, slinging his brown leather pouch onto his shoulder.

"Bring him to the medics, I have a score to settle with Leo Ace and Weniry Solce!" ordered Replex as he dashed out of the shrine. Meanwhile behind his back, the two warriors and the injured one were smirking devilishly...

* * *

Replex cut across the island by going through the Perion entrance to Sleepywood, ending up at Henesys' entrance; immediately after stepping foot onto the grass outside of the World Tree a shower of arrows greeted him. He pulled out his shield and defended against the assault effortlessly, side-stepping quickly as he looked for his attacker.

"Leo Ace, I know you're here!" Replex roared out, scanning his surroundings. "Come out and face me, you coward!"

"As you wish!" Leo called out, leaping out from a nearby bush, a bow with glowing red designs on its limb in his hand. Strangely, he had no quiver, but instead drew a shiny yellow arrow from thin air and fired it at Replex.

Replex quickly blocked with his shield and was about to take out his sword when he saw several ice shards heading for his position out of the corner of his eye. Quickly, he backed off and forced himself to leap high into the air when a giant ice shard fell, striking his original position.

"Close shave," he muttered, "I see Weniry has arrived too."

"I demand an explanation from the both of you," Weniry snapped, holding a staff that was taller than her, a shiny red sphere at the head of the staff which is held in place by a bit of wood that curled around it halfway, extended by the staff.

"As so do I," snarled Leo, glaring fiercely at Weniry and Replex. "Why did your people attack my bowmen?"

"I could say the same, Leo," replied Weniry, "Your bowmen attacked my mages!"

"Wait, so you're saying that some of your people got attacked too?" asked Replex, holding his hands out. "Isn't this too coincidental?"

"Who knows? Maybe you sneakily chose to attack and cripple us, Replex Cosmos?" growled Leo lowly, readying his bow again. Replex frowned and held up his shield.

"Listen, let's sort out our facts first, 'kay?" Replex offered. He had to swerve his head to the side as an arrow nicked his chin. "Tch!" he grumbled, rubbing his chin gently.

"Silence, Replex, I don't need to listen to your ramblings!" roared Leo, nocking another arrow, "I've had enough of your warriors attacking my bowme-"

An arrow of fire flew past Leo and burned his sleeve, forcing him to pause his sentence and hastily attempt to put the fire out. "I had enough of the warriors AND the bowmen attacking my magicians too," Weniry said, glowering at the two men.

"Well, FINE! Fight all you want, I'm sick of talking to you two idiots!" cried out Replex, throwing his arms up in the air as he started to walk away.

"Is that a sign of surrender I see, Replex?" taunted Leo. Replex merely turned his head back slightly, eyeing Leo.

"I'm not surrendering, I'm merely washing my hands off the both of you- You're hopeless, and I'm not going to expand anymore energy arguing with the both of you nutcases," replied Replex, dashing off into Henesys to escape Leo's flurry of arrows and Weniry's Energy Bolts.

"Dammit, ran the wrong way," he cursed, ignoring the hostile stares of the bowmen as he walked through Henesys. As he approached the L Forest, he suddenly remembered Hikari.

"I haven't seen Hikari in days... Y'know, maybe she is right, it's kinda stupid to argue... Bah, who am I kidding. But... it can't hurt to drop by and say 'hi', right? I mean, she's not involved and all," Replex said sheepishly as he walked through L Forest, taking in the scent of the trees and flowers.

"The power of Mother Nature... I remember feeling the same thing when I first entered Ellinia," Replex said sadly. As he came to a split in the path, memories of him, Leo and Weniry getting lost came to his head, and as he left the forest, more memories of the journey he had three years ago came flooding back.

All those happy and precious memories, days where they just wandered around, carefree and with no worries...

"Aaah, shut up! Shut up!" he cried, crouching and whacking his own head with his fists. "Those days are over... but why do I miss that feeling?" he mumbled under his breath, placing his hand on one of the buildings that stood on the outskirts of Kerning City. Another flashback came to him when he remembered how Jin had disguised himself and tricked them, and led them to Hikari.

"Hikari..." Her name left his lips without warning as he approached the entrance of the maze. He entered Kerning City with a straight face, walking past its citizens and thieves. Slowly, he climbed up to the tower crane where Hikari had once shown them the sight of a beautiful sunset.

It remained beautiful.

The Sun basked Replex in its warm glow as it started to disappear into the horizon beyond. A smile formed on Replex's face naturally as he appreciated the beauty of the sun.

However, it seemed as if something was out of place.

_"No matter what the future holds and what destiny gives us, we'll always be there for each other forever!"_ These words echoed in Replex's mind as his jaw dropped momentarily.

"Our pact... Oh my gosh, our promise! I can't believe I actually forgot... Oh how stupid I am!" Replex cried out in regret, realizing what he had done.

"Hikari must have been rather upset that we forgot, since it meant so much to her. I better find her," he ordered himself, climbing down the tower crane and entering the pub. He climbed the few steps into the toilet and pushed it away effortlessly, slowly climbing down the metal ladder.

An eight-sided star flew at his hands, and Replex was forced to let go of the ladder. Replex landed on the ground safely as the sound of metal hitting metal rang above his head. Swiftly, he turned around to meet a sharp chopper in his face.

"What the hell?"

"Oops, sorry, wrong weapon," muttered Ned, pulling out a fruit knife and replacing the chopper with it.

"You know, that ain't making you more intimidating."

"Shut up! You came in while I was making a fruit salad!" snapped Ned, backing off from Replex to give him some space. "Tell me, whaddya want, Replex?"

"Is Hikari around, I need to-"

"She ain't, and I'm not telling you where she is-" Ned was rudely cut off by a polished blade poking his neck. He rolled his eyes down to look at it. It was a fairly large blade, with a red strip down the middle. On the gold handle of the sword was a gold hemispherical emblem that had a round red jewel embedded inside.

"Tell. Me. Now." Replex snarled, his eyes narrowed down to nearly slits. Ned gulped, but glared back at Replex.

"Why should I? It's your entire fault that Hikari left!" Ned shouted, moving back quickly to create distance between him and Replex. Replex chased him around the room for a few minutes, cornering Ned quickly and grabbing his collar.

"Tell me now or you'll be sorry!" he threatened. Ned pushed him away roughly, dusting his clothes as he eyed Replex.

"Why would you want to know? Even if you find her, she may very well be dead!"

"I won't know until I try! I... need to apologize to her for something," Replex's voice became meek and soft as he dropped his gaze to the floor in shame. "I... did her a bit of wrong." Ned observed the warrior, before walking over to his desk and sliding a drawer open, carefully taking a letter and a red piece of cloth out.

"Here, take these. Hikari wanted me to give these to you if you ever, ever came by," said Ned as he reluctantly gave the letter and cloth to Replex.

"This cloth... isn't this Hikari's neck scarf?" Replex said in shock. When he saw Ned nodding sadly, he ripped open the letter to read its contents.

"Dear Replex, by the time you read this, I suppose you would have come to your senses and realize that all this arguing was really pointless," Replex read aloud, "Or I could always be wrong and the three of you are still bickering like children. But either way, I have left Victoria Island, and I may very well not return. I have left to see the Wiseman of Ereve, said to be very knowledgeable. In this manner, I hope I can make up for my mistakes..."

"Hikari wrote this letter shortly after she passed the title of Dark Lord to me. She left a couple of days ago. Prior to this she visited the Pirate Captain, Mistress Kyrin. You may be able to get more information from her," explained Ned. Replex's eyes were wide open in disbelief. He just could not believe that Hikari had actually left Victoria Island. With trembling hands, he tied Hikari's neck scarf around his own neck.

"What the hell dude?"

"... It makes me feel better. It feels as if she's by my side if I wear this... I hope she doesn't mind," Replex explained, red colouring his cheeks. Ned grinned.

"Oh my. But are you heading to see Mistress Kyrin?"

"Hell yeah I am. I'm going to drag Hikari back to Victoria Island; I made a promise to be there for her and I'm not going to break it again!" claimed Replex as he dashed out. He quickly flagged a cab and went on his way to Nautilus. Ned watched as the cab left behind a trail of smoke when it drove off.

"Replex Cosmos... I pray that you will be in time before Hikari makes another foolish mistake. Please bring her back safely, she didn't deserve any of this," prayed Ned sincerely, interlocking his fingers in prayer.

* * *

"What do you mean, I can't see Mistress Kyrin!" yelled Replex as Muirhat blocked his way to the Navigation room.

"I'm telling you, Captain Kyrin is currently busy with other issues-"

"And I'm telling YOU that Hikari's gonna be in some deep crap if I don't get some information from-"

"Did someone mention lil' 'Kari's name?" Kyrin said, poking her head out of her room. Muirhat and Replex both fell silent.

"Are ya guys both mute or somethin'? Say something!"

"Something," Replex said immediately without thinking, and Kyrin slapped her forehead.

"Not that, ya silly lad! Who mentioned 'Kari's name?" she asked again. Replex raised his hand. Kyrin frowned for a moment, beckoning Replex to enter her room.

"Muirhat."

"I know what to do, Captain," Muirhat replied as he stood at his spot outside the door again.

"Thanks," she said, closing the door after Replex entered it. "So lad, you're a friend of 'Kari, is that right?"

"Kind of. But... Well..."

"Don't stutter laddie! Speak yer mind!"

"Okay okay! Geesh, you sound like Leo... Well, Hikari's kinda gone missing-"

"What? She didn't seriously take my advice, did she?" Kyrin asked, her eyes filled with shock.

"What did you say to her!" demanded Replex, slamming his fist on the table. "S-Sorry, I mean no disrespect, Mistress Kyrin," he apologized, looking down on the floor.

"I understand ya, you're just worried for your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" protested Replex, a crimson blush on his face. Kyrin let out a loud laugh.

"Just kiddin', my boy! But back to the serious topic..." Kyrin settled down, a serious look on her face. "Lil 'Kari explained her woes to me. It seemed that... she already knew about the seal as Dark Lord Jin had told her about it before."

"Wait, she knew? Then why didn't she-"

"Yes, she didn't tell you in advance. As a result of her silence, you released the seal and got the instructors trapped in completing that seal. The seal won't permanently keep them in, they just need a couple of years to finish it so that Balrog will stay down. But then, you three airheads had to start fighting and finding fault with each other," chided Kyrin. Replex looked away in embarrassment.

"Thus, 'Kari felt guilty for the conflict. She felt that if she had spoken up earlier, the seal wouldn't have been lifted and there would have been no need for them instructors to come by. She asked me if there was any way to reverse time."

"Wait, reverse time?"

"Yeah, crazy idea. I jokingly told her she could try going to Ludibrium, the Kingdom of Toys where the Clock Tower is located, but she may need some extra info, so I recommended her to see Neinheart von Rubstein, the strategist of Empress Cygnus."

"Empress Cygnus?" Replex gave Kyrin a blank stare upon hearing the new name. Kyrin slapped her knee, shaking her head.

"Seriously lad, yer don't know! She's the ruler of the Maple World! But she's pretty young though, for an Empress. She has an army, sort of, called the Knights of Cygnus, and a strategist named Neinheart, a really wise guy. Did 'Kari really leave the island? Surely she can't be that silly to believe that she can reverse time," Kyrin said with a laugh, but stopped when she saw the rather deadpanned look on Replex's face.

"Mistress Kyrin, you have NO IDEA how gullible and naive Hikari is..." said Replex with a weak laugh. Kyrin licked her lips nervously, her fingers caressing her chin slowly.

"Well shiver me timbers... That girl's in some serious trouble then! Get going!"

"Okay okay! But what are you going to do?" Replex asked as he ran for the door. Kyrin gave a mysterious smile and winked at Replex.

"I'm going to get back up in case sumthin' bad happens, my lad. Go get that silly goose back before she disrupts the passage of time!" Kyrin ordered. Replex bowed in thanks, before running out of the Nautilus.

_'Dammit, why? Why did I have to be such an idiot and drag this out! Hikari, it was never your fault, I share part of the blame too! After all, The Rememberer said...'_ Replex's trail of thoughts halted as a Paladin clad in thick armor ran up to him.

"There you are sir! We have been looking for you-"

"Take my orders to the rest of the Warriors, they are no longer to engage in any fighting with the Bowmen or the Magicians," Replex cut in. The Paladin blinked, knocking the side of his metal helmet with his gauntlet.

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me, we're no longer conflicting with the Bowmen or the Magicians! Take over my position as the leader for now," Replex said, shoving the brown crystal he had into the Paladin's hands. The Paladin stood there, too shocked for words.

"I'm going on a journey outside of Victoria Island, maintain as much peace as possible. I don't want Perion or the island to be in shambles when I get back, ya hear!" ordered Replex as he sprinted off in the direction of Ellinia Forest, leaving behind a speechless Paladin.

"Yes sir!" the Paladin yelled, saluting behind Replex's back as he ran back to Perion to convey Replex's words.

"Curiosity and silence will be the eventual reason for broken bonds... That was the warning that The Rememberer gave! Why did I not understand?" Replex said through gritted teeth as he dashed towards the forest.

* * *

"Outta my way magicians, I'm not here to fight you today!" roared Replex as he got mobbed by a bunch of magicians firing random magic spells from every direction as he approached Ellinia City. Nimbly he dodged the spells, weaving through the assault while taking careful care not to get his hair burned by the fire magicians. His shield was deflecting any other spell that he could not dodge in time.

"Okay, you guys asked for it!" Replex growled, stopping in his tracks as he pointed his sword up into the air. _'Mana, rush forth!'_ he said in his head, as the flow of mana was redirected into the very tip of his sword, and charged with a blue aura. He swung his sword in a circle as the blue image of a tiger was formed around him.

"Shout!" he roared, and a mighty tiger's roar was heard soon after, sending a stunning shockwave through the air and stunning the magicians within the shockwave's radius. Taking this as his opportunity, Replex ran straight into Ellinia City. His appearance surprised many of the citizens there, for they did not expect to see a raging warrior running through their quiet home.

"Not here to fight, just here to take a damn boat!" yelled Replex, leaping from branch to branch to get to the port that led to Ereve. As he approached the boat where the boatman was waiting, he was stopped by a wooden arrow that struck the floor in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Oh for the sake of Minerva, I do NOT need to deal with you right now, Leo," groaned Replex as he turned around, taking an offensive stance. Leo simply walked past him, approaching the boatman.

"Kiriru am I right? Can you take three to Ereve?" asked Leo. Kiriru gave a short nod.

"3000 mesos though," he replied. Replex stared at Leo with his mouth wide open.

"The both of us went and did some in-depth investigations about the random attacks that were reported to us shortly after you left the two of us. We discovered that those who reported injured and wounded are actually agents of an outside organization that is bent on disrupting the peace in Victoria Island," explained Weniry, coming from behind Replex.

"We originally wanted to come apologize and explain to you about the situation, but we bumped into your Paladin who told us about your actions and that you were leaving Victoria Island," Weniry continued.

"That big mouth-"

"Don't blame him, we made him talk," interrupted Leo. "Ned came and told us about Hikari's letter too. We pieced the Paladin's words along with Ned and came to the conclusion that the reckless warrior will recklessly go after the naive, gullible and reckless thief." Leo held out his right fist.

"Come on... We have a pact to keep," Leo urged. Replex blinked a few times, and realized that Weniry had her fist out too. Replex closed his eyes before putting out his right fist.

"By the way... Sorry 'bout the seal thing... If I wasn't so curious-"

"It's okay, I was acting immature over the issue. Embarrassing if you ask me, considering the fact that I AM the oldest. I apologize for my childish behaviour," Leo said, handing Kiriru a sack of mesos, leaping into the boat. Replex joined in, followed by Weniry.

"I apologized too, I shouldn't have taken things to heart so much..." mumbled Weniry. Replex smiled, and patted her gently on the back.

"Come on, let's get back our thief!" Replex grinned. "Take us to Ereve, Kiriru!"

"Alright, we'll taking off to Ereve," said Kiriru, using his oar to push the boat away from the dock, letting the wind take the small ship into the air before starting the engines.

* * *

The scenery was beautiful as the ship travelled through the clouds at an simple pace.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" grumbled Replex. Kiriru shook his head.

"Considering the fact that we have quite a number of people on board, this speed is actually considered fast," replied Kiriru.

"You don't really seem human, you seem more like a bird," commented Replex, receiving a smack on the head from Leo for his remark.

"Well, it's true. Ereve is populated by people of my race," Kiriru chuckled. "I guess you could say we're similar to birds, except we don't really fly. Why are you three on your way to Ereve?"

"We're seeking some man called Neinheart von Rubstein," said Replex, leaning back.

"Oh, have fun then," Kiriru said plainly.

"Why is that so?" asked Leo, taking interest.

"Well, let's just say Neinheart is a rather... direct guy. He can insult and criticize people with a straight face. Also, he can cut the budget of the Cygnus Knights' leaders anytime."

"Sounds like a real cruel guy," chuckled Replex coldly.

"It seems like recently he took in a student about a year or two ago, teaching him to become a tactician," Kiriru added. "Well, let me give you a brief explanation of Ereve. As you should know, Ereve is home to Empress Cygnus and the Knights of Cygnus. There are five Knight Commanders; Mihile, the Knight of Light, Hawkeye, the Knight of Lighting, Oz, the Knight of Fire, Irena, the Knight of Wind and finally Eckhart, the Knight of Darkness."

"These five commanders serve Empress Cygnus, who is protected by Shinsoo the Divine Bird. Neinheart von Rubstein is her tactician as I may have stated just now, but like I said, he is one ice cold knight. I believe he was the first one to come into Empress Cygnus's service."

"That's a bunch of interesting information Kiriru, thank you," said Weniry gratefully, putting her hand out of the ship to touch the clouds.

"Well, you're very welcome. It may be hard to get an audience with the Empress though, but it's not impossible. We're almost there, I wish you the best of luck," said Kiriru, pointing in the distance. The trio peered out of the small ship, and saw a floating island in the distance.

"It looks pretty tranquil," said Leo. Kiriru merely shrugged.

"Just wait until Hawkeye gets into something silly again. That man's motto is always action first, think later. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does annoy the heck out of Neinheart and occasionally causes a bit of chaos," chuckled Kiriru, docking the boat at Ereve's port. Slowly, Replex, Leo and Weniry clambered out of the ship.

"Thanks for the ride, Kiriru!" thanked Replex, grinning.

"Just doing my job... Good luck!" Kiriru said. Replex turned to Weniry and Leo, who gave him a nod. They departed the port and walked to the place where Shinsoo slept.

* * *

"Erm, how do you know where we're going, Weniry?" asked Replex as they walked on a grassy path, both sides of the path covered with flowers.

"Oh simple, I saw a sign earlier," replied Weniry. They saw a large tree in the distance, with a platform beside it. There was a sort of shelter in the area as if something was suppose to be there, but it was currently empty.

Nearby there was a small table and two chair, and a lone boy sat on one of them, reading a book. His purple, combed back hair seemed rather familiar to Replex. There was a white piece of cloth draped over his shoulders, and he was wearing a light green long sleeved shirt. His hands were covered with white gloves that reached to his elbows and he wore white dress pants with high knee boots. A simple cup of tea sat on table in front of him.

The sound of grass rustling under the trio's feet alerted the young adult to their presence, and he turned his head to get a closer look. There was a small monocle on his right eye, and amethyst eyes looked at them.

"Good day. May I help you?" he asked. Replex looked at him warily.

"We're looking for the tactician, Neinheart. Is he around?"

"I'm sorry, he's currently in a meeting right now," informed the purple-hair adult, getting up and putting his book down gently. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Listen, we're in a rush, we need to speak to Neinheart and not some brat," snapped Leo.

"How rude, I believe I am the same age as the red-hair warrior over there," replied the adult, offended. Replex frowned at him.

"How do you know that?"

"Just a guess," he replied, smiling mysteriously.

"Well, maybe you can at least tell us if a female thief by the name of Hikari passed by," asked Weniry. The guy pondered for a moment, as if trying to recall, tapping his chin in deep thought.

"I think I recall seeing a girl of that name come by recently," he replied with a carefree tone. He had to duck a sudden slash from Replex, who had pulled his sword.

"Don't screw around with us!" he yelled angrily. The young adult grabbed a rapier that was sitting near the table, holding it up. It had a deep purple blade.

"Then why not we have a simple sparring match to pass the time?" he offered with a smile.

"This is honestly the first time I've seen Replex lose his cool so easily... He must really be concerned about Hikari," Leo whispered to Weniry. The duo had backed off when Replex suddenly let loose a wild slash at the stranger.

"You're pissing me off even more now. Prepare yourself," growled Replex, as he gripped the handle of his sword with both hands tightly, sprinting towards his opponent.

His opponent just stood there with a calm smile on his face.

* * *

A/N: Chapter 2 is done! Sorry for the rather lousy chapter 1 which may have been rather confusing. I hope chapter 2 clears up some confusing parts if there is any. Till the next update, stay sharp~


	3. Reunion and Haste

Disclaimer: I do not own Maplestory, I only own my OCs.

Chapter 3:Reunion and Haste

* * *

Replex closed in on the young adult and delivered a hard vertical slash at him. To his surprise, his sword was blocked head on by the rapier, his opponent only widening his stance to adapt to Replex's strength.

"Don't underestimate a rapier's power. Doesn't mean it looks thin and weak means it's useless," he warned, resting his gloved hand on the flat side of the blade and pushing Replex back. Replex staggered back, regaining his balance quickly and switching to a one-hand hold on his sword.

"I can see firsthand for myself, thank you very much," Replex growled lowly, leaping into the air about to do an overhead vertical slice at his opponent.

"I'll take your challenge head on then, if that's how you want to play," his opponent replied, grinning playfully. He raised his rapier above his head to block the incoming attack. He raised an eyebrow when Replex smirked back.

"Power Strike!" Replex yelled out, striking the rapier with a charged sword blow. A mini harmless shockwave was released from the impact.

"Wow... He still hung on to that basic warrior skill," Leo murmured, his hair blowing back in the wind from the shockwave. Replex's opponent grunted, taking a few steps backwards and rubbing his arms.

"Woah... That blow numbed my hands for a second there," he commented. Suddenly, he widened his stance, holding his sword above his head. "My turn then." He unleashed a flurry of sword strikes at Replex, forcing him to go on the defensive.

"Tch! What speed...!" muttered Replex. His opponent slipped in behind his sword, smiling.

"As usual, you always leave a blind spot right here," his opponent whispered softly to him. Replex's eyes showed confusion before he was delivered a hard punch in his face which sent him sprawling onto the ground. "Ack!"

He felt a boot on his chest and looked up to see a rapier in his face, and closed his eyes to await the punishment. Replex heard soft gasps from Weniry and Leo, as well as a shushing sound.

Something soft and velvet-like pinched his noise gently, and Replex opened his eyes curiously. To his surprise, there was a cloth doll dancing in front of his face that looked exactly like him.

"Idiot idiot! Reppie is a big idiot~!" teased his opponent in a childish manner, giggling as he made the doll dance in Replex's face. He brushed his hair from behind to forward, resulting in a very familiar image.

"K-Karamel!" Replex cried out in surprise. Karamel gave a cheeky grin, arranging his spiky hair properly and swapping his monocle for a pair of oval-shaped glasses.

"Long time no see brother!" Karamel said, holding his arms out for a hug. Well, he got something more than a hug when Replex tackled him senseless to the ground.

"I missed you! Why didn't you leave a message for me when you left? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you!" cried Replex, shedding tears of joy upon seeing that his best friend and close brother was safe and sound. A soft, gentle smile formed on Karamel's face, and he patted Replex on the back gently, wiping away the small tears on Replex's face.

"I went to a lot of places Replex, and ended up here. Master Dances with Balrog said that I needn't leave a letter," Karamel explained.

Meanwhile, Leo was rather dumbfounded at Replex's actions. "Are those two...?" Leo asked nervously, looking at Weniry.

"Oh, they're just really close. Replex told me that Karamel has always been like an older brother to him," explained Weniry. Leo gave a sigh of relief.

Replex and Karamel started talking for a few minutes, trying to catch up on each other's lives. Apparently Karamel had travelled around the Maple World for quite a bit, and during his travels he heard about a tactician in Ereve. Rather interested, he sought him out, hoping that he could learn from him.

"How's your teacher like, Karamel?" asked Replex.

"Oh, he's a good one. He's pretty strict man, and his lessons are really tough, but I enjoy them," laughed Karamel, getting up. "I'm sorry I fooled you about Hikari, I just wanted to provoke Replex so that I could see how much he had improved over the past three years."

"Well, it definitely worked, it made him snap," commented Leo, walking over. "The name's Leo Ace, temporary leader of Henesys."

"My name is Weniry Solce, temporary leader of Ellinia," introduced Weniry, bowing. Karamel bowed back in response.

"Karamel Noppo, pleasure to meet your acquaintance," greeted Karamel. He placed on hand on his hip, stroking his chin. "Hikari... So she was telling the truth when she said that the leaders of Victoria Island had disappeared."

"So she did come by here?" asked Replex urgently. Karamel snuck a quick look at Replex, observing him from head to toe. There was hardly any sense of humor in him when it came to that topic.

_'He probably has a crush on her but yet he doesn't know, silly boy'_, chuckled Karamel inwardly, taking a deep breath as he thought of a way to respond.

"Yes she did, but you missed her by about three days-"

"Just what is going on here?" a cold voice came from behind. Karamel's body jolted up straight and he shivered slightly in fear.

"Black Wings? No, they look too young to be members," said a low voice. Replex, Weniry and Leo turned their heads in the direction of the voice and saw a group of people approaching them.

At the front of the group was an adult of long blue hair which was tied up in a long ponytail. His monocle hid the icy look in his blue eyes, and a white cape rested on his shoulders. He wore a blue coat and had a brown belt on his waist, the coat left open below the belt. Another decorated belt hung on his left shoulder across his chest, and his white loose pants were tucked into his shoes.

"They're too bright to be Black Wings if you ask me, Mihile. I mean, don't Black Wings wear really dull clothing?" teased a tanned pirate-looking man. A pirate hat with white feathers sticking on it was on his head, and he wore a blue cape that was held in place by a blue emblem in front of his chest. He wore leather boots and gloves, and a brown belt held up his creased brown jeans. A belt crossed his black-and-white striped shirt.

"Hawkeye, you can never be too careful..." a man in black muttered, pulling off a black-and-white mask he was wearing, revealing jet black eyes. His hair was a messy mop of black, and a black coat with white fur at the collar trailed on the grass behind him. A purple emblem was visible on his chest, in front of his black clothes that had golden-yellow lining.

Behind the men were two ladies, one cloaked in red and the other dressed in green. The lady in red wore a rather large hat which covered most of her red curly hair. Green eyes scanned the trio carefully, as she gripped the staff by her side tightly. Her hands were covered by the long baggy sleeves of her red clothing, and her red shoes tapped the ground softly.

The lady in green had deep yellow eyes, and wore a golden headpiece that had a green emblem embedded on it. Her clothing exposed her shoulders and arms, and she carried a decorated bow with vines curling around its limb. Shiny gold earrings were partially covered by her long and slightly curly green hair.

A knight with a sword walked forward, clad in heavy armor with a white cape behind him. His armor and cape had gold lining decorating them. His metal grieves made slight clanking sounds as he walked. His yellow messy hair was partially covered by a metal headpiece.

"What do you people want here?" the knight said aggressively, pointing his sword at them. Karamel hastily stood in front of the trio, flailing his arms.

"M-Mihile, they're not Black Wings! They're my friends! I guess... Well, one of them is Replex! You know, the one who I often talked about being like a younger brother to me?" Karamel explained hastily. Mihile frowned for a moment, before letting his sword rest at his side. He turned to the lady in green.

"What do you think Irena? You too, Oz," he asked, looking at the red-clad lady. Both women looked at each other for a moment.

"They don't seem dangerous... But then again, that is up to Neinheart to decide," they replied in unison. The man in black yawned, walking past them and leaping up to the tree.

"Give me a holler if you need me," he said in a bored manner. The pirate Hawkeye slapped his face, grumbling.

"Damn Eckhart..." he mumbled, turning the adult with blue hair, "What do you think, Neinheart?"

Neinheart took off his monocle, wiping it with a soft cloth before putting it back on. He walked over to Karamel, who gulped nervously.

"Karamel, explain this now, and that mini shockwave we all felt in the meeting area," he ordered.

"Well... You see, Replex and his friends came by to ask you something, but you were in a meeting so I sort of provoked him a little to get a little sparring match from him," explained Karamel meekly, his eyes darting everywhere, but never met with Neinheart's. Replex stood a few steps behind Karamel, clenching his fists in an attempt to control his rising temper. He did not liked the way Neinheart seemed to be acting towards Karamel. Leo grabbed his shoulder from behind, shaking his head at Replex.

"Is that so? Then I assume that the shockwave was a little product of your match?" said Neinheart. Karamel nodded quickly, still not meeting Neinheart's eyes. Neinheart frowned, grabbing Karamel roughly by the shoulders and shaking him slightly. "Look at me when you talk to me!"

"Replex, no!" Leo yelled. Karamel and Neinheart turned to look at Replex, who was being restrained by Leo and trying to break away from him.

"Let. Me. At. That. Guy!" grunted Replex, struggling to get away from Leo's firm grip.

"Karamel, help me calm him down!" pleaded Leo, his grip starting to slip from the taller boy's struggling.

"Replex it's alright! I'm used to this-"

"Doesn't give the jerk the right to treat you like this just because you're his student!" roared Replex. Neinheart's eyes narrowed, and he glared fiercely at Replex. Replex was taken aback, feeling an overwhelming pressure from Neinheart.

_'W-What is this feeling?'_, Replex thought, quieting down. Neinheart flicked his hair out of his face.

"Replex is it? I ask that you behave if you want something from us," Neinheart shot coldly, making Replex growl at him fiercely.

"You stuck-up bas-"

"Shut it Replex, we don't need to get on the Knights of Cygnus' bad side," cautioned Leo as he let Replex go. Replex grumbled, mumbling beneath his breath.

"Teacher, they came to ask about Hikari. You know, the thief that came by asking about Ludibrium?" said Karamel. Neinheart stayed silent, before he turned to the Knight Commanders.

"Mihile, Oz, Irena, Hawkeye, return to your positions. I will speak with these people privately, if you will," Neinheart ordered.

"Privately? Geesh, you hardly give private audiences, Neinheart," said Hawkeye as he walked over to the platform that was near the tree. Neinheart shot him a rather nasty look.

"Silence, Hawkeye," Neinheart snarled softly, beckoning the group to follow him. Replex, Weniry, Leo and Karamel quickly followed Neinheart to a round table. Neinheart took a seat, before gesturing for them a take a seat as well.

"It's about Hikari the thief right?" Neinheart said, closing his eyes and resting his chin on his hands.

"Yeah, what did she ask you?" Weniry asked. Neinheart straightened his back, crossing his leg over the other as he rested his hands on his lap.

"She merely asked for information on Ludibrium's Clock Tower and about any legends about it. One of the legends she was particularly interested in was the Clock Tower's ability to control and possibly rewrite history," said Neinheart. The atmosphere in the air became insanely heavily, and Karamel and Neinheart both glanced at the trio. Replex and Weniry were looking down at their shoes, looking as if there was impending disaster coming, while Leo was biting his lower lip nervously.

"What's wrong?" they asked in unison.

"Dammit, why did you tell her about it? She was actually trying to find a way to reverse time!" yelled Replex, slamming his hands onto the table.

"R-Replex, calm down! Tell us what happened from the start!" said Karamel in a panicky manner, trying to calm him down.

Replex then explained what had happened after he left Perion, the events from three years ago, the current conflict and what he had heard from Kyrin. When he was finished, Neinheart's face was emotionless.

"Is that thief an idiot? How can anybody be so gullible and stupid?" he muttered, shaking his head.

"Apparently Hikari can," said Leo, getting up. "Thanks for your help, Sir Neinheart, we'll be leaving to stop her actions quickly."

"You better, nasty results will come out if anyone tries to mess with the flow of time," Neinheart warned. He turned to Karamel, taking out a pocket watch and looking at it momentarily.

"Since it's a rather special day for you to be... 'reunited' with your brother, I'll let you see them off. We can continue your training afterwards," said Neinheart, walking off. Replex pulled a funny face at Neinheart behind his back.

"Jerk face," he insulted. Karamel patted his back gently, bringing the trio back to Ereve's port.

"He's always like that, a heartless tactician. To me, he may be a knight with an ice heart, but deep inside, there's something warm about him. Replex and friends, I advise you to make haste to Ludibrium," warned Karamel, his expression darkening.

"I understand the urgency from Neinheart, but coming from you too...?" asked Weniry, curious. Karamel's shoulders trembled slightly, as if he did not want to say anything.

"When I saw Hikari... Her eyes said so many things. When she left, she turned back to look at me. I saw it in her eyes, a longing plea for help and someone to stop her, as if she was being controlled by destiny itself," said Karamel, sweating slightly with fear, "It was as if she was saying, 'Please stop me before I commit another mistake. I don't know how much longer I can stay sane'."

"D-Don't scare me like that!" Replex cried out. Karamel shook his head.

"I'm not scaring you, I really saw that in her eyes. You know how good I am at reading other people's faces and emotions, Replex," Karamel said, walking up to one of the boatmen at the port.

"Kiru, can you bring these three to Orbis Station?" Karamel ask.

"Of course. They'll have to pay the fee though," Kiru replied.

"No problem, just get us there as fast as you can!" replied Leo, shoving a sack of mesos into Kiru's hand. A look of surprise was evident on Kiru's face, but he pocketed the money either way.

"Don't know why you're in such a rush, but with a wind like that, we'll definitely get to Orbis pretty quickly!" claimed Kiru, pushing off the dock. Karamel stood at the dock, waving his hands at them.

"Goodbye guys! Take care of yourselves and return safely!" he yelled at the top of his voice. Breathing deeply, his purple orbs followed after the small ship as it disappeared into the cloud. "I sure hope they return safely..." muttered Karamel.

"I'm sure they will." Karamel whipped around, swinging his elbow high into the air to strike whoever was behind him. His elbow was caught by Neinheart in mid-swing.

"Teacher!"

"Sorry about that, it has become a sort of habit to sneak up on people. I find it especially entertaining doing it on Hawkeye," Neinheart said dryly.

_'The way you talk about it sure doesn't sound very entertaining to me though,'_ Karamel thought, scratching his cheek nervously.

"Relax, there's no way they won't survive this," Neinheart said, grabbing Karamel gently on the shoulder, leading him back to where the Knight Commanders stood.

"How do you know that, teacher?" Karamel asked, looking at Neinheart with an innocent look. Neinheart glanced at him, before he let go of Karamel and decided to walk forward first.

"Call it a tactician's sixth sense. If they don't survive..." Neinheart's words trailed off, as if he just caught himself from saying something he should not. "Forget what I said, prepare for your next lesson, I'll get the materials." With that, Neinheart walked off to the Knight Quarters, no doubt to get whatever materials he needed to start his next lesson with Karamel.

Karamel went to get his stationery and paper, as those are the items he would normally require to do any of Neinheart's lessons which are mainly paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork, with the occasional fencing or swordplay lesson from Mihile. He turned his gaze to the clear, blue sky, worry written all over his face.

"Don't worry Karamel, I'm sure your friends will be fine!" called Hawkeye from his spot at the platform. Karamel turned around and saw Hawkeye giving him a grin and a thumbs-up. Karamel gave a sad smile, gazing at the ground.

"I'm sure they will, but... I can't erase this feeling of dread I'm getting, Hawkeye, I just can't," Karamel whispered to himself, closing his eyes.

"Please be safe, all of you. I don't know why, but I feel that I won't be able to live my life properly if any of you are dead. Please be safe," uttered Karamel softly, dragging his finger across the table as his eyes closed.

Neinheart returned to find a sleeping Karamel at the table and he frowned, about to drop the stack of thick books he was carrying on Karamel's head. Mihile walked up to Neinheart and shook his head. "Let him off this once Neinheart; I know he's your student and you have every right to punish him, but let him off just this once," asked Mihile.

Neinheart glanced at Karamel, setting the five thick books on the table next to him. He turned on his heel, preparing to walk off. "I may be the man with no heart, Mihile, but I am not that heartless to not give my student a break. After all, Karamel and I are like two peas in a pod..."

Mihile blinked for a few seconds. For a moment there, he felt sorrow in Neinheart's normally icy voice. He pulled off his white cape, draping it over Karamel's shoulders, before resuming his position on the platform.

* * *

"Hang on you three, we're almost there!" said Kiru. Weniry leaned out of the small ship for a moment, trying to get a better look of the continent.

The sight of a huge station greeted her. There were all sorts of different ships docked in different areas facing different directions. Kiru docked the ship at one of the docking points, assisting the trio in getting off the ship carefully.

"Go down the hall way and you'll find the ticket counter. You need to purchase a ticket to Ludibrium," said Kiru. Weniry gave a nod of thanks, grabbing the two boys by the arm and dragging them down the hallway.

"Weniry, we can walk!" yelled both boys, which Weniry just ignored anyway. The hall way they walked down had a pretty high ceiling supported by tall concrete pillars.

"Orbis is a floating continent, where fairies roam about mostly. The Guild Hall is located here, along with the world's largest air station. There's a tower that's connected to El Nath, the town of snow," Weniry gave a hasty explanation, running to the ticket counter.

"Are there any tickets available for the ship to Ludibrium?" asked Weniry.

The lady at the counter shook her head. "I'm sorry miss, but all trips to Ludibrium have been cancelled temporarily. Some sabotaged the Ludibrium Air Ships, and they're currently under repair."

"Well that's just nice ain't it guys," said Leo sarcastically. "Did a girl around her height," Leo pointed at Weniry, "wearing nearly full white clothing, brown hair and emerald eyes pass by here? Also, is there any way we can get to Ludibrium other than air?"

The ticket lady thought for a moment. "I believe so, but she had to managed to get onto a working ship before the rest broke down. Well, you could try going via Orbis Tower-"

"Okay, that's all we need to know! Let's go you two!" Leo shouted, dashing off with Replex and Weniry.

"But... I haven't finished my sentence. The route is very long and infested with monsters. Furthermore you have to go underwater..." said the poor ticket lady, resting her cheek in her hand.

Replex, Weniry and Leo exited Orbis Station and found themselves in a rather large and bustling city. Fairies with feather wings flew around doing their business. There were also many shops and adventurers around, along with an entrance to a park.

"Wow... So many levitating stuff here," said Replex, dizzy.

"The fairies here are so different from the ones in Ellinia. I spy a potion shop, let's drop by and buy some resources first. We've got no time to waste, maybe on the way back we can do some sightseeing, but I doubt so cause we need to return to Victoria Island," advised Weniry, making her way down from the high floating platform.

"How do you have so much money, Weniry?"

"I do my fair share of work you know, Replex?" replied Weniry, walking inside the potion shop and returning with Mana Elixirs and Unagis. Replex stared at the Unagi for a moment.

"What the heck is that?" Replex asked as he placed the recovery items into his pouch.

"Unagis. They'll replenish your stamina way better than a White Potion would, Replex," said Weniry with a smile. Leo pulled out his bow, smacking his lips as he walked to the entrance of Orbis Tower.

"Leave the monsters to me - I have a new skill that I want to try out which can clear a whole lot of them out at one shot," Leo said confidently. Replex gave a shrug.

"If you say so, Leo."

As they approached Orbis Tower, they saw a cracked statue of a winged goddess. It was evident that the tower was aged, from the signs of broken pillars and cracked walls. The main tower stood tall and proud, and the party made their way down cold stone steps into the tower.

"Boy, it sure is cold in here," Replex said, rubbing his arms gently. Leo walked forward first, a shining arrow already nocked onto his bow.

"What is that?" Replex said, recognizing the arrow as the one that nicked his chin earlier.

"Soul Arrow. This way I won't have to waste all my arrows. It drains a fair bit of mana though," Leo said. He looked down and turned to face Replex and Weniry.

"I hope you two are ready for a very, very long climb down. This tower seems to be made of steps, steps and more steps," Leo informed. Replex and Weniry looked at each other, trying not to laugh at the way Leo phrased his sentence. Weniry took the red emblem from her necklace, tossing it into the air and catching a staff that formed from it.

"So there's where your Rubian Staff went to!" exclaimed Replex, having to duck when the staff fell from the air. Weniry grinned, following after Leo who had already started walking down.

A low hum was heard before a blue ray of energy shot out at Leo. Leo swerved his entire body and fell off the steps onto a nearby ledge, releasing the arrow he had ready at what appeared to be a stone sphere. The sphere made a small exploding sound, before crumbling to pieces and blue minute spheres coming from it, disappearing into the air.

"Those are Sentinels... They fire energy rays that are quite hard to avoid, so be careful guys," Weniry said, moving her staff in a circular motion in the air. Two tiny fairies appeared above the trio holding a bowl, tilting its contents over the three young adults. As the magic went into Replex and Leo's body, they both felt a surge of strength flowing through them, and it felt as if their sight had been enhanced.

"Cleric supportive spell, Bless. This ought to help you a fair bit, Leo," smiled Weniry as she casted the spell. Leo gave a nod of thanks, his sharp ears picking up more low humming.

"I see, it's a group of them on the steps now eh," Leo muttered, holding out his hand as mana flowed from his body and formed a solid shining arrow.

"Soul Arrow and... Arrow Rain!" Leo yelled, firing the arrow at the steps before them, leaping back onto the steps from the platform. The single arrow split into several more shining arrows, bombarding the steps in front of them. Several more explosion sounds were heard, followed by the sound of broken rock falling onto the concrete steps.

"Woah... That's pretty good Leo," complimented Replex. Leo brushed his hair out of his face, turning his head back to Replex and Weniry.

"Very well then you two, are you ready to speed down Minerva-knows-how-many floors of Orbis Tower with me?" Leo asked, grinning. Replex pulled out his shield, attaching the Boomerang Supports onto them.

"I'll help out since I got this nice burst of strength in me. I rather not waste Weniry's buffing magic," chuckled Replex, standing behind Leo.

"Well then... Don't lag behind you two!" Leo yelled, dashing down the steps and firing at everything in his path. Replex chased after him, taking two -and sometimes three- steps at a time. He saw a blur of blue and Weniry appeared beside him.

"What the hell Weniry!" Replex cried out, surprised.

"Teleport Replex, Teleport."

"I'm going to leave you two behind if you don't hurry up!"

"Wait up Leo!" cried the warrior and magician, chasing after the speeding bowman that was leaving behind a trail of destruction.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was a tad difficult because I was wondering how to describe Orbis Tower. I settled for 20 floors of steps. Till the next update, stay sharp!


	4. Aqua Road

Disclaimer: I do not own Maplestory, I only own my OCs.

Chapter 4: Aqua Road

* * *

"Woohoo!" yelled out Replex in glee as he slid down the last few steps of Orbis Tower on his shield. When he hit the snowy bottom of the ground floor, he flipped off his shield and landed safely, and returned to claim his shield. As he leaned over to pick it up, the hard body of a bow met his head with a cracking sound.

"Ouch!" Replex cried out in pain, falling onto his bum holding the bruise on his head. Leo stood over him, keeping his bow.

"You idiot, don't suddenly throwing the shield down and go sledding down the snowy steps! We're not at an amusement park!" chided Leo, hands on his hips.

"He can't be fully blamed Leo, Perion rarely receives any snow. The nearest city with snow in Victoria Island would be Happyville, but even so we need a teleporter to reach it," giggled Weniry as she teleported beside Leo and Replex, who was pouting. He got up, his feet sinking into the snow as he grabbed his shield.

"Damn, who would have known it would be snowing inside here... Brr!" shivered Replex, rubbing his arms in an attempt to keep warm.

"Well, the 'window's here are rather wide, and as we progress further down, we get closer to El Nath. But we have no time to go visit El Nath right now, we need to chase down Hikari like, right now!" Weniry rushed, entering an arched doorway in the main pillar of Orbis Tower.

"Woah woah Weniry, how do you know we're going the right way?" asked Leo, holding onto Weniry's shoulder. Weniry gave him an annoyed look.

"I studied the maps of Maple World when I had a bit of time in the past two years, along with its natural monsters, so of course I know. I'm not going to be helpless when it comes to knowledge, you know?" Weniry snapped in irritation, proceeding down several more steps.

"Great, more steps into the basement," groaned Replex as he slapped his palm against his forehead. Leo rolled his eyes and tugged on Replex's sleeves, pulling him down.

"I can WALK!"

"Well, get yer ass moving then," growled Leo as he dragged the warrior down the staircase.

A soft "plop" sound was heard as Weniry's shoes made contact with water, the ends of her jeans becoming wet. She looked around, and saw a hole in the ground leading deeper.

The problem was that it was water and they are humans.

"Oh dear, how are we going to proceed further?" worried Weniry as she heard several more "plop" sounds behind her.

"Hmm... I heard of an item called the "Air Bubble" which can help us breathe underwater," said Leo, rubbing his chin with his finger. "However, I heard it is only sold in Aquarium."

"Well, that's a bummer. How do they expect explorers or tourists to explore down under the sea when they only sell the bubbles there-"

"Heya! Need a ride?"

A blue dolphin poked its head out of the water, spraying water everywhere and drenching the trio.

"A... talking dolphin?" asked Leo, surprised.

"I'm the Dolphin Taxi! I ferry explorers to and fro across Aqua Road! Need a ride, you three?" offered the dolphin, adjusting the cap on its head with its flipper. "It's a thousand mesos each to Aquarium, the city under the sea!"

"Since we're pretty desperate right now, we'll have to take your offer," sighed Weniry. The dolphin held out three bubbles.

"Take these and put it over your head! It'll allow you to breathe underwater. After that, jump down the hole and meet me in the water," instructed the dolphin, diving back into the water. Replex poked the bubble in his hand.

"How the heck does this small little bubble fit my head?" Replex asked Weniry. Weniry studied it for a moment, before pressing the bubble to her face. The bubble magically expanded, covering her head. Leo and Replex glanced at each other, before doing the same.

"Hey, we look like we have upside down fishbowls on our head!" laughed Replex.

"Shut up and jump," Leo snapped, adjusting his belt where his bow pouch was hanging, and tightened the strap on his quiver before leaping into the water, swimming down. Weniry did the same, while Replex had to adjust the straps on his pouch and his weapons before jumping in.

It appeared as if Orbis Tower had an underwater basement- they were still surrounded by concrete walls underwater. They saw small blue penguins swimming around with snorkels and scuba diving masks, as well as a few clams around.

"Hoi there, there you are!" called the dolphin, beckoning them to come forward with his flipper. "Get onto my back and hold on tight! Try not to tickle or pinch me, it distracts my movement."

Replex, Weniry and Leo swam over the dolphin, and with some difficulty, managed to get onto its back. The dolphin ensured that they were safely on before cruising slowly through the water, and out of Orbis Tower.

* * *

A beautiful sight greeted the trio as sunlight shone into the sea and illuminated the whole place. Fishes swam around, idyllic, along with a few pink seals that were playing in the sand. A few wooden boxes lay half buried in the sandy bottom.

"Wow, the view under the ocean is truly stunning," whispered Leo, amazed at his new surroundings.

"We'll be in Aquarium before you know it!" the dolphin said, picking up speed as he glided through the water with relative ease, passing blue and purple puffer fish-like monsters and even more seals. The seals are relatively bigger than the pink ones they saw, this time one coloured a dark blue and the other a light blue with a baby seal on its head.

"Poopa... Poison Poopa... Freezer... Aaaaah so many new monsters," whined Weniry as her head started aching from the sudden intake of new information. Replex chuckled, holding onto the dolphin carefully.

"Can we breathe in Aquarium?" asked Replex, interested as he took in his surroundings.

"Yeah, but only in the main building. The main building is equipped with a breathing system for land-dwellers. There is a lot to see, and since it's a tad difficult to reach here, you might as well take off a bit of time to view the Aquarium's Zoo," explained the dolphin, steering through the water with its flippers.

"Zoo?" asked Leo.

"Oh, the zoo of land monsters that you can't find in the water," replied the dolphin with a carefree tone.

"Well, we might have seen most of them-"

"Oh shush, Leo, we could check it out... You know, just rush through the zoo for a bit," said Weniry, unable to contain her excitement anymore. Replex sighed, giving a shrug.

"I guess we could spare a bit of time... But not too long, remember, our main objective out here from Victoria Island is to bring Hikari back before she does anything silly," reminded Replex.

"Judging by the sun, we may have to spend the time here anyway," said Leo as he looked up to the surface of the ocean. The rays of light had turned slightly orange. "It's evening, the Sun's setting. It isn't advisable to travel at night-"

"But Hikari may have gotten to the Clock Tower already!" argued Replex as he turned his head sharply back to Leo.

"If we get injured and accidently die out at sea at night, then we won't be able to stop her!" Leo argued back, "We just need to hasten our pace tomorrow!"

Replex fell silent, facing his front again. He felt a firm grip on his shoulder. "I'll say the same words you said to me three years ago: Don't push yourself. It's not your entire fault Hikari has decided to be an idiot and try something silly. She's just being naive, though it's nothing new," Leo tried to comfort Replex, a slight redness forming on his cheek. He just was not used to comforting people with kind words.

"Still... if only I didn't lift that seal, this would have never happened in the first place!" Replex said bitterly, looking down at his hands.

"It's already in the past. We can't change the past, but we can learn from our mistakes and not commit the same mistakes again. If it happened, then it's meant to happen. Remind me to smack that sense into Hikari," chuckled Leo, patting Replex on the head gently, "Besides, I'm sure this isn't our destiny to continue fighting each other. Don't you want to find something else to your life other than fighting?"

Replex's eyes snapped open at that sentence. His mind suddenly wandered to the first day that Dances with Balrog told him about him not being from Perion.

"Yeah...I made my mind to find out and make my destiny. I'm sure it ain't just plain fighting," said Replex with determination. Leo smiled behind him, relieved that Replex was back to usual himself.

"That's more like it."

"Hey ya three! We're almost there!" The voice of the dolphin brought the attention of the trio to what was in front of them. A blue shiny building stood in the sand before them, several entrances in it, and many corals of various colours surrounding the building. The dolphin let them slide off its back at one of the entrances.

"It's a bit confusing inside, but the basic amenities are inside! I make regular trips from Orbis Tower to here and near Korean Folk Town. Just for your information, if you're heading for Ludibrium, you have to get to Korean Folk Town. It's quite a distance from here though."

"Thank you very much for your service, Mr. Dolphin," thanked Weniry, holding out the payment for the ride. The dolphin took it and placed it in its pouch, saluting the trio.

"You're welcome! Have a pleasant day ahead!" the dolphin cried before swimming off. Weniry turned to the two young adults, folding her arms.

"Well, since we're here, and it's only around 6pm, why not go visit the zoo first? I mean, we should just for experience, shouldn't we?" asked Weniry, trying to hide her strong interest in it.

"Why not, we have a bit of time before bedtime. But we're setting off early the next morning," said Leo strictly.

"Count me out guys," Replex said, shaking his head. "Give me some money Weniry, I'll buy some air bubbles for our usage."

"You sure you don't want to see the tamed monsters in the zoo, Replex?" asked Weniry as she handed the money pouch over to Replex.

"I'll be fine, you go with Leo. I need to do some thinking," he said, walking off with the pouch gripped firmly in his hand.

"Leave him alone for awhile. Someone like him needs to do some soul-searching every once in a while," said Leo, holding Weniry's hand gently. "Shall we go, my lady?" he asked jokingly.

"Y-Yeah," Weniry replied, blushing a deep red and her heart started beating faster.

"Are you alright? Your face is pretty red you know?"

"I-I'm fine! I-It's just the heat..."

"Our clothes are drenched, how can you be-"

"Oh yes! Before we leave, let me use fire magic to dry our clothes!"

"Sheesh, change of topic much?"

* * *

Weniry and Leo walked into the Aquarium Zoo after Weniry had dried their clothes using her fire magic. There were many monsters roaming in their respective cages, some lazing in their surroundings while others were being active.

"Wow... They have it all, from pigs to Yetis," exclaimed Weniry, flabbergasted at the variety of monsters, going to look at each description panel. Leo sighed, running after the knowledge-thirsty lady.

"Oh look Leo, it's a White Fang, a native monster of El Nath!" said Weniry, giggling like a little girl.

_'She becomes a little girl the minute there are new things to learn... Or when she sees things that appear in books with her own eyes. It's pretty cute,'_ Leo thought to himself, following after the hyper magician as he himself looked at the panels describing each monster.

"Oh cool, they have monsters from Victoria Island too," said Leo as he stared down at a bouncing mushroom with an orange cap. "For some reason, it seems cuter out in the wild than in captive..."

"Oh well. They have monsters that are native to Victoria Island as well with El Nath," explained Weniry, twirling around in a circle as she observed each monster.

"I could stay here for hours," Weniry sighed pleasantly, her eyes closed in peace. Leo gave a sharp cough.

"We still have to meet Replex at the inn, Weniry."

"Aw, alright Leo."

"Maybe we may be able to return here someday in the future?"

"True... Let's go then, Leo."

Leo and Weniry strolled over to the inn. As they pushed open the doors of the inn, the saw Replex hunched in a corner storing at a mug full of water. His eyes appeared distant, as if he was thinking of something far away from him.

"Replex? Replex!" Leo rapped his knuckles sharply on the clear glass table that Replex was leaning his arms on, snapping Replex back to reality.

"H-Huh? Oh, hi there Leo, Weniry! I didn't think you'll be back so soon!" Replex laughed, handing the money pouch back to Weniry. "I've bought some Air Bubbles, about five to seven to each of us. It should last us the trip to Korean Folk Town."

"Are you alright Replex? You seemed rather... troubled," Weniry questioned. The look on Replex's face darkened slightly.

"What's wrong?" asked Leo as he took a seat opposite Replex. Replex gripped his mug tightly, breathing out.

"I... just have a bad feeling. That's all," Replex sighed as he leaned back, eyes closed and brows furrowed.

"We'll pull through with Hikari in tow Replex," Weniry said in an attempt to cheer Replex up. "I'll order dinner for us. Your choice of meal, boys?"

"From what I can see, Grilled Poopa," said Leo.

"Give me a... I don't know, Shrimp Basket," Replex said as he craned his neck back to look at the menu that was hanging on the wall behind him. He balanced himself dangerously on the back two legs of his chair.

"Don't fall Replex," giggled Weniry as she went to order the dishes. Leo placed his hands on the table, interlocking his fingers as he peered at Replex.

"I know you're hiding something."

"What makes you think so, Leo?"

"Call it an elf's sixth sense."

"Well, it's wrong this time."

"Don't crap around with me, Replex Ruby Cosmos." Replex's head tilted up slowly at the sound of his full name. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that bullshit?"

"... You never really changed, Leo," Replex chuckled lowly as he stared at his reflection in the mug. Leo frowned, putting his hand on Replex's hand.

"We're here for you. The conflict, the fighting, it's over and in the past. We have our common goal and that's to get Hikari back."

"Thanks Leo."

"Now tell me what's wrong."

"You sneaky little elf, no."

* * *

After a warm dinner and some struggling to get Replex to take off his clothes so that Weniry could dry them in the bathroom of their room, the trio settled down to rest in their beds. The inn under the sea was drastically different from the one they saw in their home island. The walls were blue and strangely smooth, small coral plants growing at the corners of the room. For an inn, the beds were made out of water, like a water bed. The blanket had a seaweed-like texture. Their oval windows provided a good view of what was swimming outside. Weniry gazed at the fishes swimming outside the windows while Replex stared at his sword.

"I sure hope this doesn't rust," he mumbled, cleaning the sharp blade.

"Maintain it well and it won't," Leo said simply, cleaning his bow as well. "Weniry sure doesn't have to worry since her stuff is made of wood and a circular emblem."

"Oh shush Leo!" Weniry snapped, before she went to her bed and leapt onto it, squealing as the water bed gave way for a moment, before it was molded into a shape that Weniry could rest comfortably on.

"This is really strange though," Weniry said, sighing as she lay her head down on the bed. Leo kept his bow back into his pouch before he lay back, closing his eyes.

Replex turned his head to look outside the window. The sun had set already and it was quite dark. Frankly speaking, it was really scary, for he couldn't really see anything out there.

"I guess it was a good choice to stay the night here," Replex muttered, sliding his sword back into its sheath. He ran his hand down the reflective side of his shield. At that moment, he saw his reflection, and the next moment he saw Ru's face on the shiny surface.

"Ru..."

_"Yes, Replex?"_ spoke the reflection, chuckling as Replex fell back onto the water bed in shock.

"What the!"

_"I can talk to you through a surface like this. Even if our souls are now one, I can still talk you know?"_

"So I heard. I never saw Leo's Rubian Side..."

_"They've merged already, don't worry about him."_ Ru looked at Replex, his eyes shining kindly. _"Are you worried about Hikari?"_

"Very, Ru, I've said it many times."

_"Did you say anything to Leo at dinner?"_

"Nah, I clammed up."

_"Either way, relax... Iruhi's with Hikari, she should stop her from doing anything stupid. I hope."_

"You hope?"

_"Hikari can be quite the stubborn girl... Anyway, you should get some sleep, you're getting up early tomorrow Replex. It should only take about two hours to reach the next town,"_ said Ru as he faded, the reflection turning back to Replex's own.

Replex gave a huge sigh as he laid his head down onto the bed. They rushed so much that day; from Victoria Island to Ereve, from Ereve to Orbis and down it into Aqua Road.

"We had about three to four days gap from Hikari... Will we be able to make it in time?" Replex's eyelids grew heavy as exhaustion overcame him, and he drifted off slowly to sleep.

* * *

Soft panting sounds were barely audible, as a single thief leapt onto the many platforms in a tower that seemed to have been built of toy blocks.

"Damn King Block Golems...!" she cursed as she turned behind to see a group of at least three blue toy block golems chasing after her. "How the heck can they get up here! Can they even jump with that weight?"

_"I warned you not to underestimate your opponents, Hikari,"_ Iruhi sighed as she appeared beside Hikari. Hikari sulked, climbing up a ladder and onto flat land.

"Finally! I swear, Ludibrium Tower is an effin' obstacle course!"

_"Ludibrium IS the Kingdom of Toys, Hikari, of course there are blocks everywhere."_

"I know that Iruhi. If only those sky bandits didn't buck us off the Ludibrium Ship and sent us flying into Omega Sector... I do NOT fancy aliens, especially those with tentacles, thank you very much..."

_"I am actually thankful for the sky bandits for delaying you,"_ muttered Iruhi.

"What was that?" Hikari asked as she threw an eight-sided star at a group of yellow Block Golems on a platform. "Avenger!" The star sliced through the air and the group of monsters, cutting the golems into halves. Hikari watched as the golems disappeared into yellow sparkles, grabbing the meso coins they left behind and climbing the ladder to the next floor.

"How tall is this tower..." she grumbled as she proceeded up the next few floors with ease, before finding an exit to the outside of the tower.

_"Hundred floors, with several floors having teleporters to ease travel."_

"Gee, thanks, Iruhi," replied Hikari as she looked upwards. "Gosh... The starry sky is so beautiful. But this ain't the time to be star-gazing!" Hikari climbed up the block platforms, into an elevator, waiting as it took her to the next floor.

"I wonder if Replex actually received the letter from Ned..." Hikari mumbled as she placed her hand on her neck. Her neck felt empty without her scarf.

_"You'll be surprised- Replex may have already paid a visit to Ned."_

"What makes you think so? I think he's still fighting with the rest," Hikari said. She exited the elevator and continued to climb up the many steps, taking care not to be blown off the tower by the strong gusts of wind.

_"You underestimate Replex's feelings for you, my dear."_

"Shut up- Aww, what's this? It's so cute~" Hikari squealed as she saw a bunny with a drum walking towards her.

_"Hikari, I advise you not to touch that-"_

"How can a monster be so cute...?" Hikari asked, poking the bunny's ears. Suddenly, the bunny slammed its paws on the drum, producing a shocking sound wave that stunned Hikari momentarily. The bunny then chucked its drum at Hikari's head, which bounced off Hikari's forehead and made her fall backwards onto her back.

"Damn Drumming Bunny...!" cursed Hikari, tearing as she rubbed the bruise on her head. "That damn drum hurt!" she yelled as she threw a pair of Steelies at the bunny. The bunny tried to escape but let out a shrill squeal as the Steelies struck it in the back and made it fall.

"Well... I still have quite a couple of floors to go."

_"Couple? Make it roughly forty to sixty."_

"..."

_"Miss them?"_

"No... I'm doing this to rectify my mistake... If I can do this, none of this fighting would have ever happened," snapped Hikari coldly as she continued climbing, leaving Iruhi floating behind her. Iruhi gave a sad face, adjusting her tiara and putting her hands together in front of her.

_"I can't Ru... I can't change her mind anymore, she's too fixed on the foolish illusion that she can change time. Please, Replex, Weniry, Leo... Please make haste and stop Hikari before it's too late. Please save her soul!"_ Iruhi muttered, before following Hikari. Desperate, she tried one last attempt at convincing Hikari.

_"Hikari... Are you very, very, very sure about this? Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?"_

"I'm dead sure about this. Nothing, absolutely nothing can change my mind." Hikari turned to look at Iruhi, her eyes cold and sad.

"This is my fault. I will make things right again, no matter what."

* * *

A/N: This chapter is a little short, describing the events in Aqua Road and some 'update' on Hikari's whereabouts.


	5. Towards Helios Tower

Disclaimer: I do not own Maplestory, I only own my OCs.

Chapter 5: Towards Helios Tower

* * *

The next day, Replex woke up first, surprisingly. Leo and Weniry were both still sound asleep in their water beds. Replex fumbled around for his glasses, before dragging his tired body to the bathroom.

"5am only...? Minerva, what the heck is wrong with me..." mumbled Replex as he splashed water onto his face to revive his somewhat dead self. His hair fell messily in front of his face and on his back, reaching to his knees. Back when he was a teen, it only reached halfway to his back.

_"Rise and shine, sleepy eyes."_

"Morning, Ru..." groaned Replex as he looked up at the mirror before him, and saw Ru there, arms folded.

_"Ready for another long day of travelling?"_ Ru chuckled. Replex forced a smile onto his face as he continued to wash his face before he took a quick shower.

"Somewhat. I can only hope we don't run into any trouble along the way in Aqua Road," replied Replex as he began soaping his body, before washing it off quickly.

_"Remember, anytime you need help just let me take over you-"_

"Ru, you and I are one, you don't need to take over my body, I'm plenty fine with the extra power from you," laughed Replex as he started drying his hair first, holding a second towel round his waist. He started washing his clothes quickly, squeezing as much water as he can out of it.

"Replex, are you done? And just who the hell are you talking to in there?" Leo's voice came from the other side of the door as a couple of heavy, tired knocks resounded from the door.

_"See you later, Replex,"_ said Ru as he disappeared from the mirror. Replex grabbed his damp clothes, clenching the towel tightly as he kept it up. With some difficulty, he turned the knob and exited the bathroom, and Leo greeted him with a messed up hairstyle and a sleepy look.

"Sure took your time," he grumbled as he pushed past Replex to enter the bathroom.

"Sorry, was talking to Ru a little," laughed Replex as he laid his clothes out to dry on the table. Weniry came over to the table, looking at them.

"I'll speed up the drying process," she said, holding her hands out and muttering as mana flowed into her gloved fingers. Her hands were covered with a warm, orange aura and started emitting heat. Slowly, she touched the damp areas of Replex's clothing with her hands to dry it quickly. "So what did you and Ru talk about?"

"Nah, he merely told me if I needed help I could ask him," Replex chuckled. Weniry smiled kindly, switching over to Leo's clothes as he came out as quickly as he went in.

"Hn. If you needed his help at this stage I would kick your rear so hard with one hand tied behind my back," Leo mumbled, his hair dripping wet and covering half his face, along with a wet towel around his waist.

"You look like you just came out of a washing machine. Also, if you have one hand tied behind your back, how would you pull your bow?" Replex asked. Leo stood there with his mouth open, trying to think of something before he gave up. Replex roared with laughter as he went into the bathroom again to change. He could not change in front of Weniry, a girl, after all.

"Shut up!" Leo yelled after him, waiting for Weniry to dry his clothes. Replex continued laughing out loud from behind the door, before he came out to grab his items.

"I'll go down and order breakfast first. Leo, would you like to join me?"

"Sure, it would be rude for us to stay here when a lady is changing," Leo said as he went to change back into his clothes.

"Sorry..." muttered Weniry, slightly embarrassed.

"No problem, my lady," Leo said casually as he grabbed his bow and quiver, leaving with Replex. Weniry blushed as her heart beat faster again, like when they were at the zoo.

"W-What is this...?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Replex and Leo were talking as they ordered their food, a simple meal of toast and coffee, tea for Weniry. Replex sat down, but could feel Leo's glare on him.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you're-"

"Geesh Leo, you nag as much as Karamel does! I'm fine, relax bro," Replex said with a grin as he leaned back into his chair. Leo gave a soft sigh, mumbling elven words to himself.

"Weniry is taking a long time..."

"She's a lady... Let her take her time, you shouldn't rush a girl, Replex."

"Oh don't talk to me like that..."

"I was brought up this way, Replex," Leo snapped back, sipping his coffee.

"Yeah, to be a such a strict formal-"

"I'm sorry for taking my time, boys," apologized Weniry as she took a seat at the table. The two guys shook their head, quickly shoving the few slices of toast into their mouths while Weniry took a little longer than them, minding her table manners.

After finishing their meal, the trio put Air Bubbles over their heads before swimming out of the large building. They waved at the Dolphin Taxi who was bringing in more adventurers, before they swam off in the direction of Korean Folk Town.

As they proceeded further away from Aquarium, the surroundings became greener, and they started seeing seahorse-like monsters and spiky sea urchins. Weniry beckoned to the two boys, swimming ahead with her staff out. Replex pulled out his sword and Leo pulled out his bow, shaking his head at Replex.

"The water pressure will make it hard for you to swing your sword and will greatly lower the swinging speed."

"Doesn't matter; good muscle training!" grinned Replex as he held the sword handle with both hands. Leo slapped his forehead, sighing.

"Warriors, they don't think..." he mumbled, before strumming the bowstring of his bow gently as he swam along.

"Weniry, you're not going to use electric spells underwater are you?" asked Replex nervously.

"Of course not! I'm not that silly to zap the entire ocean - and my friends- to death!" exclaimed Weniry as she swam. "But the rest of my spells are pretty useless... Fire won't do much, it'll just be doused by the water. Poison doesn't really work well, and ice literally floats on water..."

"What about Energy Bolt?" suggested Leo as he swam by, nocking an arrow and releasing it at an orange and white striped fish in their way, its arrowhead engulfed in white-blue energy. "Sometimes the best skills are always the basics."

The fish gave a loud squeal as the arrow struck it, falling limp in the water and floating. Leo quickly swam over and grabbed it by the tail and sliced off the skin using a small cutting knife. The fish then disappeared into a bunch of sparkles that then fell to the ground and disappeared into it.

"Arrow Blow still gives me the best response, even if the higher tier skills are way stronger," said Leo, passing the skin to Replex. Replex looked at it for a moment, pulling at it before keeping it into his pouch. Weniry looked at her staff, forming an Energy Bolt in her hand and releasing it at a black sea urchin, shielding her eyes as the lightning blue mass of energy exploded brightly on contact with the monster. After the monster let out a shrill squeal, it left behind a sharp needle-like stick.

"Pinboom monsters... Their spines make really nice needles," Weniry said as she swam over to pick up the needle. She dug into Replex's bag and took out an Air Bubble to replace hers.

"We replaced our five minutes ago Weniry; it's a bit of a waste to use one now, isn't it?" asked Leo. Weniry gave a shrug, returning her staff back to its emblem form.

"Let's get a move on, we should be reaching Korean Folk Town soon, just by that cliff," said Weniry, swimming up to a cliff in the distance.

"A cliff in the sea huh," said Replex and he followed after, swinging his sword with great effort. "Damn, it's really difficult underwater."

"I told you," said Leo plainly as he swam ahead of Replex. Replex grumbled behind him, but continued to swing his sword underwater.

"Is that another tower we have to climb?" groaned Replex as he saw concrete bricks with an entrance stretching up to above the sea.

"Only one way to find out," said Weniry as she entered. Inside was a rope submerged in water leading up and she grabbed hold of it, climbing up with ease.

"You're way faster than back in Henesys..." muttered Replex as he climbed up next, recalling the time where Weniry had problems climbing up the tree to find a Hidden Street.

"This is a rope, Replex. I climb vines all the time in Ellinia when I gather herbs, not trees," laughed Weniry as she pulled herself up. Soon, she reached air as her head came out of the water with a soft 'plop'. Weniry tilted her head up and saw light above him, climbing a little more before she stuck her hand out and felt for a surface, and grabbed on tightly. For some reason, the 'ground' she grabbed onto felt smooth and cold. With a little bit of effort, she grabbed the 'ground' outside and pushed herself out.

Only to fall flat on her face on hard solid ground.

"Ack!" she cried out, holding her face in pain. She looked behind her and saw that she climbed out of a well instead. Weniry peered into the well and saw Replex climbing out.

"Oh wow, it was linked to a well huh?" Replex said, struggling to climb out. Weniry grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out steadily. "Glad it's not another tower, that's for sure," he laughed.

A sharp knock was felt on the back on his head, and Leo clambered out of the well easily. "Pfft, aren't you a silly boy, Replex?"

"Shut up Leo," Replex grumbled as he looked around. "So this is Korean Folk Town?"

"Yup," said Weniry, dusting off the soil that got onto her clothes.

Around them was lush greenery, and villagers dressed in a traditional sort of cloth clothing wandered around, doing their daily business. Instead of developed buildings like in Kerning City, there were thatched and tiled-roof houses scattered about. The whole village seemed to be built on a bumpy terrain, with some houses built higher than others. To the East there was a cliff, and a path leading up to the cliff and up into a forest. Replex could spy a tall shape in the distance that appeared to be a mountain.

"Man... Oi Weniry are you alright?" asked Leo, putting his hand on the shaking girl. Weniry turned her head to look at the elf, who started backing off from her. Weniry's eyes had signs of sparkly amazement.

"Y-You know... I heard that Helios Tower is actually connected to Korean Folk Town and that it is the largest library in the entire world!" Weniry said, her voice soft and excited.

"I-I guess we can spend just awhile... But only two hours," Replex said, scratching the back of his head. Weniry squealed, hugging him. Replex blushed, pointing at a large yellow tower that was stretching into the sky.

"We should try that building."

"No shit, sherlock. Do you see any other out of place building here?" snapped Leo as he walked to the gates of the toy block looking building.

"Shut up!" shouted Replex as he walked behind Leo. Weniry went ahead of them, giggling like a child while humming a cheerful tune.

"Leave it to a magician to be especially excited when coming to a library..." sighed Leo.

"Well, it is the world's largest," laughed Replex while Leo growled at him.

* * *

The first step into the library echoed in the large building. There were many tiers of shelves, and each tier had many shelves filled to the brim with books. In the middle was a large floating book, as if it was acting as the power supply of the building. One lone librarian was busy arranging the books on his desk.

"Oh my, we have visitors? Good day, I'm Wiz, the Librarian of Helios Library," the old man introduced himself, adjusting his thick circular glasses. Weniry went up to the desk, looking at all the books there were already stacked up there, her eyes showing such obvious signs of glee that even Wiz could tell that she was a bookworm.

"It's been a long while since I saw an avid reader. The last one was a boy with purple hair and glasses..." Wiz said, stroking the ends of his moustache. "And speaking of boys, I think you better help your friend over there."

Weniry and Leo turned behind them shortly after a clattering sound of a shield hitting the ground was heard. Apparently Replex took one look at the huge amounts of books and fainted from deep shock.

"Well, seems we'll be here until Replex wakes up; it seems that he has never seen so many books before in his life and fainted," Leo said, chuckling as he lifted the boy onto his back easily. Weniry squealed, grabbing a nearby thick book and sitting on one of the toy chairs, reading contently. Soon, she was in her own world, with a stack of book already at her side. Leo gave a sigh as he started humming a tune, only to be shushed by Wiz.

"Silence in the Library, if you will," whispered Wiz, chuckling lowly. Leo gave a small chuckle.

"Purple hair boy... You must mean Karamel," Leo whispered back.

"Yes, that was his name. He stayed here for a few months, reading and arranging all the books in this place. He was truly a dedicated reader. I often have to drag him personally out of the tower for his meals, especially when the library was closed for the day." Wiz gave an aged laugh as he climbed up a tall step ladder to return several leather bound books to their proper place.

"That obsessed huh? Well, it seems like being a tactician would really be his job then," said Leo. "Speaking of which, Librarian Wiz do you know of any legends of Ludibrium's Clock Tower?"

Wiz turned around sharply, a rather dark look on his face. Hesitantly, he pulled a book out from the shelf he was arranging, taking a slow climb down the step ladder. He handed the book over to Leo, and Leo noticed that Wiz was trembling a little.

"Is the legend of the Clock Tower that scary?"

"It isn't... But the monster that resides in it is."

"Monster?"

"You will understand when you read that book, young elf," replied Wiz. "But I will offer my advice, in my years of looking after this large library, no one has ever dared to travel down to the Kingdom of Toys' Clock Tower. Anybody that does... never return alive," Wiz said darkly, returning to keep the books.

Leo raised an eyebrow as he turned the book open and ran his fingers down the aged pages. Soon, he too, was also absorbed in the information the book had to offer.

At least he took books better than Replex did.

* * *

A gentle hand was touching Replex's head. He turned his view upwards and saw a tall adult smiling at him. He could not make out the person's features, but he felt that he had seen him somewhere earlier. Was that white or blue hair he had behind him? Replex reached out his hand to grab the sleeve of the adult.

"Replex Ruby Cosmos what the hell are you doing!" a stern voice yelled into his ear, and Replex was rudely awoken.

"A dream...?" Replex muttered, looking around. "Oh yeah, we're in Helios Library... Ugh, too... many... books..."

"Don't you dare faint on us again, we were here for three hours 'cause you were out cold. Now let go of my shirt," ordered Leo. Weniry gave a sigh as she came over, a dreamy look on her face.

"I wish I could stay longer... But since Replex is awake, we have to go after Hikari now. What were you reading just now, Leo?" Weniry asked as they walked out of the library after saying their goodbyes to Wiz.

"Stuff about the Clocktower. There's some rather disturbing news," said Leo as he climbed up a ladder to the next block platform that was stuck into the tower.

"Oh?" asked Replex as he followed after.

"Apparently there's a monster living there that is a semi-protector of it. While it watches over that clock, it is a monster from another dimension with a vengeance in our world. It doesn't attack because majority of its power is sealed down in its home dimension," said Leo as he smacked a hamster-looking toy away. He fired an arrow at it and ignored it as it stopped running around.

"Retz huh... What's the name of that monster in the Clock Tower, Leo?" said Weniry as she climbed to the next floor with him.

"From what I managed to get from the book, its name is Palupatulasau-"

"Short form please!" pleaded Replex.

"Papulatus. I was just screwing around with you; that was a fake name," chuckled Leo, jumping up the platforms in the tower in an attempt to escape an enraged Replex.

"You!" roared Replex as he chased after Leo who was roaring with laughter. Weniry gave a sigh, resting her hand on her cheek while watching Replex chase Leo in circles. She noticed that there were no more ladders leading up to the next floor.

"Hmmm..." Weniry hummed to herself as she rested her hand on a smooth wall. She saw a button with a directional button pointing up. Curious, she pressed it, and a loud voice boomed beside her.

"Welcome to Helios Elevator! Please step in and we'll have you on the 100th floor in no time!" a robotic voice said. Weniry squealed in surprised and fell onto her rear.

"Wow, didn't know there was an elevator here," said Replex, having given up chasing Leo. He climbed up several white steps and poked the closed doors, watching as they slide open easily on his touch. "This is so cool."

"Move it," said Leo as he kicked Replex in the rear. Replex fell and rolled into the lift, his shield clanking on the floor of the lift as he rolled. Leo offered his hand to Weniry, pulling her up into the lift. The door closed smoothly behind them, and cold air blew into the lift.

The lift was blue, with several lights above them. Weniry was staring at two buttons on the side of the elevator.

"Strange, this elevator only has two floor buttons - the second floor and the hundredth," she said.

"Perhaps they don't want the other floors to be accessed," Replex said as he rubbed his sore back gently.

"Perhaps the reason is because the elevator system acts as the main pillar for the tower," Leo said, jabbing his finger at the hundredth floor button.

A loud clanking sound was heard, followed by the low hum of machinery. Suddenly, the lift shot up at breakneck speed. The trio gave out several yells of surprise as they were knocked off their feet by the force.

"Woah!"

"Aaaah!"

"Bloody fu-"

"No cursing Leo!" yelled Replex as he tried to get his bearings back. He groped around for something to hold, and managed to grab onto a metal handle at the side of the elevator. He grabbed Weniry's hand and guided her to the handle, followed by Leo's.

"I swear, this thing is worse than riding a Fire Boar... except you don't get your ass burned on this thing," grumbled Replex. Leo gave him a strange look.

"You ride Fire Boars?"

"Used to when I was younger. I got scolded by both Karamel and Master Dances with Balrog- Karamel scolded me for burning a hole in my pants and Master scolded me for being reckless and behaving like an idiot."

Weniry laughed out loud, while Leo was snickering in the corner. Replex blushed, kicking Leo in the leg, whistling innocently as the older boy recoiled in pain.

"We are approaching Floor 100! Please hold on and do not use any skills or items that might potentially damage the lift system," the robotic voice called over the speakers in the lift.

"I think we, the passengers are the ones being damaged, not the lift system...!" said Leo as the elevator picked up speed again.

With a quick jerk, the lift grinded to a halt suddenly, sending the trio flying to the other side of the elevator.

"I hate this damn thing. I take back the cool part," complained Replex as he stumbled out of the elevator, trying to get some feeling in his legs again.

"While rocky, I think it was pretty fun," said Weniry as Leo assisted her in getting out of the lift.

"Well... let's pick up our pace. We're not too far from Ludibrium; the exit is just up ahead," Leo said as he climbed up a rather long ladder.

"I hate climbing now," Replex groaned as he pushed himself up onto the ladder. "The only plus is that it's red- my favorite colour."

"Shuddup and move yer butt, Replex."

"Shut up and move YOUR butt. You're above me, dammit."

"Boys..."


	6. Ludibrium, Kingdom of Toys

Disclaimer: I don't own Maplestory, I only own my OCs.

_Italics=_ Rubian sides speaking or thoughts.

KersoneDesire: Yes, I know the ending was abrupt, but I wanted to it to have a kind of, ya know, shock and sudden feeling to it. Guess it could have played out/I could have written it out better, I'll probably re-edit it, though with the same ending... I guess when I write a story starting from way in the past, it would clear things up more. ^^; Sorry~ But I'm glad that you feel that bond 'magic'. It was kinda how I wanted it to be.

Chapter 6: Ludibrium, Kingdom of Toys

* * *

A sight of toy blocks and buildings made of said blocks greeted Replex, Weniry and Leo as they left Helios Tower. The road they walked on was built with yellow toy blocks, and small street lamps were set at the sides. As the party proceeded to the city of Ludibrium, they saw a gateway that welcomed them into Ludibrium, the kingdom of toys.

"Wow, so this Ludibrium, the toy kingdom," Weniry said as she glanced around, fascinated by the structure of the city. Mana-powered blocks floated around in the city, carrying benches and street lamps on them. The shops around were specially built to signify their purpose, the potion shop having a potion symbol above its front door. The weapon shop was built in the shape of a helmet, as if to signify that it sold armours.

In the distance, they could see an identical tower to Helios Tower, and a small village that was built away from the bustling main city. Right in the middle of the city stood a large building with a red roof, and a large clock was built into its wall for all to see.

"They say that Ludibrium's Clock Tower is the most accurate in the world- It is never off by even a microsecond," informed Weniry as she glanced around. She saw a bit of smoke coming from an area that was a few minutes walk from where they were. "I wonder what's going on over there. Let's check it out just in case they need our help."

When the trio walked over to the area, they walked into an airship port. There, they found many broken airships and toy block people running around trying to fix things.

"I'm sorry, the air service from Ludibrium to Orbis is currently down!" called out a flustered ticket officer, who was going through many documents. "This is the worst attack in history!"

"Chill man! Did any passenger- a young woman in particular- pass by?" Replex asked. The ticket officer lifted his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to recall. Replex was a bit freaked out by the fact that even the clothes of the officer were painted on, just like a toy and yet the eyes and mouths could move normally like a human's.

"We had one more passenger ship come in about… two days ago? Apparently it was also attacked by Sky Bandits and Crimson Balrogs. All the passengers are either dead or bucked off-"

"Bucked off or dead?" roared Leo in anger, slamming a fist down onto the counter and frightening the poor officer out of his wits.

"P-Please calm down sir! Amongst the dead bodies we didn't find a young woman… Omega Sector has reported that they found survivors of the airship attack, and they sent pictures of the survivors to allow us to trace their families," the officer said, pulling out a bunch of photos from his drawer. "Perhaps the woman you're seeking is one of them?"

Weniry grabbed the photos from the officer and scanned through them quickly. After a few seconds of flipping through them, she pulled out a single photo, waving the photo in the air with glee.

"I found Hikari's photo! She sure doesn't look too happy to be taking a photo," Weniry called. Indeed it was, though Hikari appeared rather uncomfortable, her eyes looking elsewhere in the photo, as if she was trying to get away.

"That lady already left Omega Sector a day ago, so the Omega Sector soldiers reported," informed the officer as he gathered the photos back into his drawer.

"How do you know that?" Replex asked, concerned.

"The soldiers inform us who have reunited with their friends or left the area so that we can take down the photos of the people who have left."

"That means… Hikari had been delayed for two days. We may only be back by one day," Leo said. "Thanks for the information, sir."

"You're welcome," the officer replied, returning back to his documents. The trio walked out of the station briskly, slightly relieved at the news.

Leo turned to the rest, a serious look on his face. "If the blessing of Minerva is on our side, Hikari may not have reached the Clock Tower yet! We can still catch her in time!"

"What are we waiting for, let's get moving then!" Replex yelled, dashing back to where they found the huge building with the clock. The entrance to the building was rather particular though; instead of steps, it was a small slide.

"Really a toy kingdom," Leo commented, scratching his cheek. He walked up the slide easily, pulling Weniry and Replex with him as they entered the Clock Tower.

* * *

Upon entering, the party saw many clockwork teddy bears running and jumping around, as if they had not been alerted to the new presence. The whole area was like a terrace under Ludibrium, they could actually see the skies. Weniry silently gestured to a large square entrance in the wall that had a sign showing a human figure going down. Replex went into the entrance first, giving a loud cry as he fell onto a slide and slid down all the way.

"Why the hell are all the stairs made of slides?"

Weniry giggled, reminded of the incident where Replex fell back into Hidden Street. She quickly slid down, but accidently landed on Replex's back.

"Ooof!" Replex grunted as the petite magician landed on the shield on his back.

"I'm so sorry Replex!" Weniry squealed, helping Replex up. Leo slid down, did a flip in the air and landed on his feet gracefully.

"Show-off," Replex grumbled, rubbing his back gently. Leo smirked with a slight proud aura around him as he glanced around. They were really underground now, blue walls surrounded them, and the hallways were too long for them to see the ends. The loud humming of factory machines reached their ears, as they saw toys being made on a moving belt.

"This is like a factory down here... I guess they don't call it the Toy Kingdom for nothing- This is probably where all those toy monsters came from," Leo explained, getting onto the next slide to the floor below. Replex stuck his tongue at Leo, sliding down along with Weniry.

The scenery changed when they landed; the presence of mana was strong enough to make blocks levitate in midair. The area was dark and covered with purple blocks, with a few pendulums swinging around.

Weniry saw a little alarm clock on the floor and out of curiosity, picked it up. She dropped it immediately when it started ringing with a shrill noise. The clock fell to the ground with a "clang", before wobbling a bit and running off with small baby-like noises.

"I must have picked up a Tick by mistake..." Weniry said as she watched the purple alarm clockmonster ran away.

"That's a really loud self-defense mechanism it has..." Leo said, digging his ears. His elf ears were more sensitive than Replex and Weniry, so the ringing gave him quite the headache.

It was not until one more floor down did they bump into a weird looking owl structure. It was brightly coloured, with red and green in the front. Strangely enough it did not have any wings, but it looked more like an owl head sitting on a trapezium-shaped body, with the longer parallel side up.

"What the heck is this?" Replex said, giving a raised eyebrow.

"Don't know. It looks really weird for a decoration though. It's too bright to be in such a dark place like this," Leo said, giving the owl-like structure a hard kick.

A few clanking sounds came from the inside of the body, before the owl head moved up slightly with its eyes wide open. Wings came out from holes in the sides of the body, and the area rang with cuckoo noises.

"Aw shoot, and this is why Mistress Athena tells me not to randomly kick things," Leo muttered, pulling his bow out as he got to higher ground with Weniry. Replex stood his ground, pulling out his sword and shield. He heard the sound of old pages flipping behind him.

"The monster is known as Timer, an owl-like machine that roams the deeper areas of Ludibrium, just before the Path of Time," Weniry informed; her book in front of her and her staff out by her side.

Replex narrowed his eyes as he frowned. "We gotta hurry this up- We really don't have any more time to waste here!" he said, dashing up to Timer and striking the body hard with his sword. To his utter surprise, his sword did not land a single scratch. Timer began spinning in a circle, knocking Replex backwards.

"Replex! You can't attack the body, it's reinforced with metal!" Weniry warned.

"Geesh, tell me sooner..." Replex mumbled as he rubbed his head, getting up onto his feet. He saw a few physical yellow music notes floating towards him. He put his shield out to meet them, only to feel a strong vibration through his body and numbing his movements.

"Ack!" he yelled, falling to his knees, his senses numb. Timer made a few more bird noises before it glided over the floor, moving towards Replex.

"Thunder Spear!"

A long spear-shaped rod of green electricity pierced the air and slammed into the back of Timer's head, electrocuting it and stunning it for a moment. Black smoke started rising out of Timer's head slightly.

"Urgh... Damn... Music... Notes..." Replex snarled as he struggled to get some feeling into his body. Slowly, he got up, staggering around for a moment before he regained his balance.

"Thanks for saving me there, Weniry," Replex called out to the upper platform, chucking his shield way above Timer's head. Weniry smiled, drawing a fiery bow along with a blazing arrow, launching it at the stunned Timer. Leo joined in with an attack of his own, firing two arrows at the same time.

"Fire Arrow!"

"Double Shot!"

The triad of arrows struck Timer hard in the head, knocking it face first onto the ground with a loud crash. Replex clenched his fist and drove it into the air as a sign of victory, while Leo merely smiled, proceeding down to the same level with Replex, Weniry following behind.

A wavering, painful hoot came from Timer as more smoke came out from the back of its head. Suddenly, its head spun around, showing a black and purple owl face, and it stood up again, spinning around in a crazy manner. Loud cuckoo sound waves came from it, knocking the group back into the walls as they were overcome by the force of the sound waves.

"Urgh...!" Leo groaned as he tried to fight against it. His ears picked up the sound of metal crashing to the ground. "Replex! Your shield fell to the ground on its return trip!" he alerted Replex.

Replex gritted his teeth as he tried to fight the continuous sound waves that were coming from the berserk monster. Slowly, he tightened his grip around the sword. He closed his eyes and focus, blue wavy energy rushing into his blade as he held it up with both hands. An image of a blue and white tiger surrounded him.

"Shout!" Replex bellowed with all his might, and the tiger released a thunderous roar that shook the area, releasing a shockwave that struck Timer hard. The berserk Timer fell over onto its back, returning back to its previous state of a harmless object.

"I think the shockwave damaged Timer's insides... Replex, are you alright?" Leo asked, running over to the warrior who fell, supporting his bent body with his knees and elbow, the Rubian Sword at his side. Weniry ran over to Replex's shield and picked it up, returning to the trio.

"I-I'll be fine... I-I'm just tired..." Replex replied as his breathing became laborious, clutching his chest tightly. Weniry's staff began glowing with green sparkles emerging from the gem on it, drifting down to Replex and entering his body. Slowly, Replex felt the tiredness in his limbs disappear as he caught his breath with relative ease.

"This feeling... It's your Heal spell, isn't it Weniry?"

"Correct. I've tweaked it around here and there to increase its potency," Weniry replied with a gentle smile. Leo pulled Replex up by his arm, keeping his bow as he helped Replex to sheath his sword.

"Use me for support till you get your strength back. Leave the rest of the fighting to Weniry and me- We need you to conserve your strength just in case," Leo ordered as he assisted Replex in climbing down to the next level. Replex gave a tired chuckle, letting himself be dragged around by Leo for awhile.

* * *

A mystical sight greeted the trio as they walked into a circular platform. It was as if they were in another dimension - they were surrounded completely by darkness, and tracings of clocks floated around in the air, some twisted in odd ways. It was eerily quiet, so much that their gentle footsteps echoed loudly on the toy platform.

The moment they stepped onto the middle, the platform sped downwards at breakneck speed. Weniry screamed and hung onto Leo for dear life, while Leo held onto both Replex and Weniry, trying to maintain his balance as much as he could.

The trio ended up falling on their faces when the platform did a sudden turn and sent them flying through the air, onto the ground. Leo heard approaching footsteps as he rubbed the bruise on his forehead. Eyes narrowed, he pulled out his bow, ready to attack in necessary.

"There's no need to attack, good sir," a playful, yet mechanical voice said. Leo eyed the toy man suspiciously, frowning. He was wearing a purple, starry top hat, had a red nose and wore a purple suit. His white eyes were painted on, and he carried a candy cane in his hand. "The name's Mr. Bouffoon. You three adults are the second, third and fourth visitors recently."

"Recently?" Replex said with his head jolting up. "Did you see a young lady coming by here?"

"Indeed I did young man, and try as I might, I could not get her to leave. How troubling..." Mr. Bouffoon sighed, nudging his white curly toy hair with his cane. "She insisted going deeper down to the Clock Tower, I can only hope she's alright..."

"How do we get there? We need to see her urgently!" Replex demanded, his hands clenched into fists. Leo grabbed his shoulder, his eyes ordering Replex to calm down.

"There are two paths- both are equally dangerous. One brings you to the path of Warped Time, where the future and present both clash at the same time. The other brings you to the path of Forgotten Time, where the past which is forgotten is brought back," Mr. Bouffoon explained.

"The young lady took the path of Warped Time. Both paths you choose will lead you to the Clock Tower, and both are about the same distance."

"We'll take the path of Forgotten Time then, thank you very much, Mr. Bouffoon!" Weniry said, getting up onto her feet and pulling the guys to theirs. Putting their fists together, they dashed off in the path of Forgotten Time.

"Good luck, young Rubian Trio," Mr. Bouffoon mumbled, adjusting his hat before he went off on his way.

Replex, Weniry and Leo entered a large area that was built with large blocks, a huge pillar towering in the middle and running down. Platforms floated around in the space. Leo cleverly used these platforms as elevators, descending down to a circular platform on the pillar itself.

"Come on... Down the Path of Forgotten Time, for Hikari!" he shouted to Replex and Weniry, who were still standing near the entrance. Replex and Weniry looked at each other, following Leo's example. As they approached Leo, they saw him taking out his bow.

"Shhh... Monsters ahead, we better be prepared. It's time for another round of pure massacre guys."

"Roger that brother."

"Understood, Leo."

"Good. Now let's go!" Leo let out a loud battle cry as he charged towards a group of jester looking monsters, his sharp arrows piercing right through them and reducing them to shreds. Replex smiled inwardly to himself, before his eyes turned serious again. The Rubian embedded inside his sword started to glow a deep red, a sign of his determination.

_"Just wait for us Hikari... Don't do anything stupid, we can make things right again without affecting time! Just let your mind hang in there!"_

* * *

An explosion sound was heard as a Viking ship was smashed to pieces with a bomb, a loud wail of despair resounding in the lonely halls of Warped Time.

"Too close," Hikari said as she picked up red cloth from the remains. Her surroundings were covered with block pillars, and magical, translucent spheres with time ticking were etched onto some of them. She leapt down with ease and landed on some squishy substance.

"Eeww…." She said in disgust as she lifted her foot to inspect the item. Hikari gave a loud scream as she sliced the dripping, blue liquid off her shoe, for she saw a mournful face staring back at her.

"_Turn back before it's too late…_" the face said in a grim voice, before disappearing.

"_It would appear that was a lost soul,"_ Iruhi said as she appeared beside Hikari. _"This really is a bad idea Hikari, we can turn back-"_

"Iruhi!" Hikari yelled fiercely, "I said I've made up my mind and I'm no longer changing it!" Hikari broke into a mad dash as she ran deeper into the Clock Tower, stabbing and killing every monster in her way. There was a mad look in her emerald eyes, ones that have lost their calm.

"_Replex, Leo, Weniry… Where are you? Was the delay of the ship not enough?"_ Iruhi muttered, gliding after Hikari.

After a good hour of running deeper into the Clock Tower, Hikari decided to stop and catch her breath. She looked up to a pair of towering doors, locked together with a huge padlock and multiple chains holding the large golden handles of the red and yellow door.

"A padlock to a thief… That will be as easy as stuffing explosives into an egg," Hikari joked, as memories of the explosive egg came back into her head. She shook her head slightly to get it off her mind. When she touched the padlock, an overpowering uneasy feeling overcame her and she fell back. Visions of the future flooded her mind, showing dead bodies of Replex, Leo and Weniry. Visions of herself lying dead on the ground also appear. These visions of the future ran through her head endlessly.

"I… I can't turn back now," she said between gritted teeth. Hikari was scared, she was afraid of death, and she was afraid that her friends too, might actually die because of her.

"_Yes you can! You can turn back now if you want to Hikari!"_ yelled Iruhi desperately as she held Hikari's shoulders, even if she cannot physically touch her.

"I chose this path… This will be my destiny... Even if death awaits," Hikari mumbled weakly with fear as she shakily used her Rubian Dagger and a paperclip to try picking the lock. Iruhi took a closer look at the dagger- It was way bigger and slender than when Hikari was a teenager. There was also an extra translucent green blade sticking out for extra reach.

The padlock fell to the ground with a loud clatter, followed by the long chains. Hikari took in a deep breath and pushed the doors open. The doors creaked as they opened, as if they have not been opened for many years.

A long hallway greeted her, with tall lamps on the side. There were also benches along the path, as if the area used to have people walking around. For a moment, Hikari had a short vision of people having a procession, and taking care of the Clock Tower. When she blinked, emptiness greeted her.

Hikari walked calmly down the pathway, eventually coming upon a yellow structure. There was a large clock on the top of the structure, with a lock at the bottom.

"So this is the deepest part of the Clock Tower..." Hikari muttered as she walked up the steps to the lock. She stared at the lock that protected the seal.

_"I suggest you don't touch that Hikari..."_ Iruhi warned. Her warning fell on deaf ears as Hikari placed her left palm on the lock.

The ground started rumbling as Hikari's Rubian Mark on her hand started glowing in resonance with the lock, and so did the Rubian gem that was embedded in her dagger. Iruhi shielded her eyes as the red light got stronger. Through her arms she saw Hikari's face, which was calm and emotionless, as if she had expected it to happen.

Hikari did not expect to be facing a small blue blob with eyes and a curl on its head.

"Why I never... Hello there?" Hikari said as she waved at it, feeling a little silly. The small blob stood on its pointy little legs, tilting its head slightly at Hikari.

"You're too cute to be a monster..." Hikari cooed softly, kneeling down and holding it gently on her lap. "What's your name? Can you talk?"

"Papu... latus," Papulatus squeaked softly in broken sentences. "You, Human. Papu. Monster."

"So you're Papulatus... You're awfully small for a time guardian," Hikari said, feeling a little silly. She thought Papulatus was a huge monster that would stand in her way of getting to the Clock Tower.

"Human. Reason for coming?"

"I want to try to reverse time... to mend my mistake. I don't care if I have to sacrifice my life," Hikari said. Papulatus leapt off Hikari's lap and beckoned her into a small swirling portal that was now in place of the lock.

"Come. Papu help noble cause." Hikari smiled, following the blue blob in.

Inside the structure was a giant clock that kept turning and turning, with a crack in its glass protector. Papulatus gestured at the glass.

"Break glass. Papu can then turn time."

Hikari gave a nod, pulling out her dagger, charging it with energy as she rapidly stabbed the glass twice.

"Double Stab!"

The glass shattered to smithereens, exposing the giant clock. She turned to Papulatus who was walking up to the clock and smiled. _"Maybe he'll help me now,"_ she thought.

She did not notice a soft smirk forming on Papulatus's face.

"You. Puppet into trap. Papulatus take over and get revenge," Papulatus said growing larger in size suddenly and jumping onto the giant clock. Many blocks and machine parts flew from around the room and built around the clock, forming a giant mechanical clock body.

_"Hikari, run for it!"_ Iruhi yelled into Hikari's head. Hikari actually listened to Iruhi and ran out of the room. In her haste, she tripped over her own feet and fell down the small flight of stairs in the hallway.

"Ack!" Hikari cried out as she landed on her head. In the process of regaining her bearings, a large hand grabbed her tightly around her waist and squeezed tightly.

"Urgh...!"

"Stupid human. Become Papulatus's tool," Papulatus squealed in a childlike manner, waving its short pointy hands around.

"No... I've been tricked... Shit, I've caused trouble again..." Hikari cursed as her consciousness started fading. "Iruhi... Seal the doors. Don't let anyone come closer to this area!"

_"Hikari!"_

Hikari forced Iruhi to split from her soul, and forced her back into the Rubian gem of her dagger. With the last of her strength, Hikari used Claw Booster on herself to increase her arm speed and power, before flinging her dagger at the open doors. The dagger landed just outside the doors and Iruhi, using her powers, closed the doors and sealed it tightly.

Severely weakened without Iruhi, Hikari fell into a slumped position in Papulatus's machine hand.

"Silly human. Seal too weak," Papulatus said, pressing a button on its control panel. Hikari's body jolted straight as an electric current ran through it. She let out a blood-curdling scream, which echoed through the empty halls of the Clock Tower.

* * *

"Urgh!" Replex cried out as he fell to his knees, dropping his sword. He held his head in pain as Hikari's scream echoed through his head.

"Replex!" Weniry called out in concern, holding Replex's shoulders gently. "Are you alright?"

Replex began shaking uncontrollably; his eyes wide open in fear. Leo grabbed Replex's chin and lift his face to look into his eyes.

"I've never seen him like this before... He's truly terrified..." Leo muttered. He tuned his ears in to listen to what Replex was muttering.

"Hikari... Hikari's in danger..." Replex muttered, holding himself. A hard punch in the face from Leo sent him reeling in pain and onto the ground.

"Ow!"

"Idiot! If Hikari's in danger, then now's not the time to be kneeling down on the floor and babble like an idiot! Get moving!" Leo yelled at him. Replex looked on the floor, ashamed.

"I'm sorry... I heard her screaming and I..."

A hand was offered to him, and Weniry's smiling face came into view. She was bending her knees slightly over the warrior, a comforting smile on her face.

"We're all in this together Replex. Come on, let's hustle," Weniry said. Replex said nothing, but smiled and took Weniry's hand. He picked up his sword and stared into the depths of the Clock Tower.

"We'll save you Hikari... Just last a little longer please!"

* * *

"Damn it. Seal too strong. Papulatus underestimate. No matter, Papulatus will return with puppet and wait for puppet's friends to come."

Papulatus guided the mechanical clock back into its room, while Hikari sat outside the Clock Tower's broken seal, waiting on its steps for the arrival of her friends...

* * *

A/N: Edited the Path of Time 'map' a little. Instead of a long ladder I replaced it with a platform.


End file.
